Literary Criticism audiobooks

Bunk

By: Kevin Young

Narrated by: Mirron Willis

Length: 20 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: No

Bunk traces the history of the hoax as a peculiarly American phenomenon, examining what motivates hucksters and makes the rest of us so gullible. Disturbingly, Young finds that fakery is woven from stereotype and suspicion, race being the most insidious American hoax of all. He chronicles how Barnum came to fame by displaying figures like Joice... Read more

How Amy Tan's family stories made her a storyteller

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 9 minutes

Abridged: No

Amy Tan was going to write a book about writing. But what came to her mind instead were memories of childhood, reflections on family treasures, photos, documents. In Where the Past Begins: A Writer’s Memoir, Tan explores revelations about her family and how her experiences steered her toward a life as an author. Tan joins Jeffrey Brown for a... Read more

The Dawn Watch

By: Maya Jasanoff

Narrated by: Laurel Lekfow

Length: 10 hours 8 minutes

Abridged: No

“Enlightening, compassionate, superb” —John Le Carré

Winner of the 2018 Cundhill History Prize

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2017

One of the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2017

A visionary exploration of the life and times of Joseph Conrad, his turbulent age of globalization and our own, from one of the most exciting young... Read more

Nicole Krauss, Forest Dark

By: Nicole Krauss

Narrated by: Rebecca Goldstein & Emily Skeggs

Length: 1 hour 25 minutes

Abridged: No

Join bestselling author Nicole Krauss to discuss her upcoming new novel, Forest Dark, an intellectual, humorous, provocative book exploring life and God through the eyes of two Americans lost in Tel Aviv. Krauss will be interviewed by National Humanities Medalist, novelist and philosopher Rebecca Goldstein (Plato at the Googleplex). With a... Read more

Henry David Thoreau

By: Laura Dassow Walls

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

Length: 22 hours 21 minutes

Abridged: No

“Walden. Yesterday I came here to live.” That entry from the journal of Henry David Thoreau, and the intellectual journey it began, would by themselves be enough to place Thoreau in the American pantheon. His attempt to “live deliberately” in a small woods at the edge of his hometown of Concord has been a touchstone for individualists and... Read more

Sexual Personae

By: Camille Paglia

Narrated by: Emily Durante

Length: 35 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

In this brilliantly original book, Camille Paglia identifies some of the major patterns that have endured in western culture from ancient Egypt and Greece to the present. According to Paglia, one source of continuity is paganism, which, undefeated by Judeo-Christianity, continues to flourish in art, eroticism, astrology, and pop culture. Others,... Read more

Montaigne in Barn Boots

By: Michael Perry

Narrated by: Michael Perry

Length: 5 hours 12 minutes

Abridged: No

The beloved memoirist and bestselling author of Population: 485 reflects on the lessons he’s learned from his unlikely alter ego, French Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne“The journey began on a gurney,” writes Michael Perry, describing the debilitating kidney stone that led him to discover the essays of Michel de Montaigne. Reading the... Read more

101 Amazing Facts about William Shakespeare

By: Jack Goldstein

Narrated by: Kent Harris

Length: 26 minutes

Abridged: No

Did you know that Shakespeare introduced thousands of words into the English language? Do you know what unusual item he left to his wife in his will? Have you heard of the conspiracy theory that suggests Shakespeare didn't write the plays we attribute to him today? In this fascinating audio-book, narrator Kent Harris talks us through all of... Read more

Mentale Prüfungsvorbereitung

By: Michael Draksal

Narrated by: Michael Draksal

Length: 2 hours 40 minutes

Abridged: No

Sicheres Aufreten bei völliger Ahnungslosigkeit – wer will das nicht? Nein, Spaß beiseite, das eigentliche Lernen kann Dir auch dieses Hörbuch nicht abnehmen, aber Du bekommst einen innovativen Trainingsplan für Deinen Prüfungserfolg. Sportwissenschaftler Michael Draksal bereitet seit mehr als 20 Jahren Athleten mental auf Wettkämpfe vor und... Read more

Jesmyn Ward: Sing, Unburied, Sing

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 6 minutes

Abridged: No

Award-winning author Jesmyn Ward writes the stories of the people and places she found absent in literature while growing up. Her new fiction novel, Sing, Unburied, Sing, weaves the supernatural with genuine characters that are molded by the rural and poverty-stricken life in her Mississippi hometown. Ward joins Jeffrey Brown to talk about her... Read more

Nathan Englander, Dinner at the Center of the Earth

By: Nathan Englander

Narrated by: Mira Jacob & Josh Hamilton

Length: 1 hour 8 minutes

Abridged: No

Pulitzer finalist and bestselling author Nathan Englander will be joined by author Mira Jacob (The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing) to discuss his new, "many-splendored" (The New York Times) novel, Dinner at the Center of the Earth, a powerful, riveting story exploring the Israel-Palestine conflict through the lives of a prisoner in a secret cell... Read more

Orhan Pamuk, The Red-Haired Woman

By: Orhan Pamuk

Narrated by: Elif Batuman & David Furr

Length: 1 hour 23 minutes

Abridged: No

Nobel Prize winner and bestselling novelist Orhan Pamuk comes to Symphony Space for a conversation with author Elif Batuman (The Idiot) on his latest novel, The Red-Haired Woman. Sit down with one of the greatest storytellers of our time as he talks about the eternal conflicts of fathers and sons, of east and west, of tradition and modernity.... Read more

Ann Patchett, Commonwealth

By: Ann Patchett

Narrated by: Emma Straub & Alan Alda

Length: 1 hour 26 minutes

Abridged: No

The acclaimed bestselling author returns to Symphony Space to discuss her latest novel. Told with equal measures of humor and heartbreak, Commonwealth tells the enthralling and tender story of how an unexpected romantic encounter irrevocably changes two families’ lives. In conversation with Emma Straub (Modern Lovers). An excerpt from the novel... Read more

Cressida Cowell, The Wizards of Once

By: Cressida Cowell

Narrated by: Claire Legrand & Emily Skeggs

Length: 59 minutes

Abridged: No

The author of How to Train Your Dragon presents her enchanting new novel, an exciting adventure filled with giants, witches, wizards, warriors, the mysterious wildwoods. Cressida Cowell will be joined by author Claire Legrand (Foxheart) for an afternoon of conversation, art, fun activities, and a reading from The Wizards of Once by Tony Award... Read more

Fierce Reads NYC

By: Anna Banks, Marissa Meyer, Emma Mills & Caleb R...

Narrated by: M. J. Franklin & Aliza Weinburger

Length: 52 minutes

Abridged: No

Four fierce authors of romance, suspense, fantasy, and bestselling series for teens: Anna Banks (The Syrena Legacy series), Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles), Emma Mills (This Adventure Ends), and Caleb Roehrig (Last Seen Leaving) make a stop on their tour to present their latest novels and chat with fans. In conversation with MJ Franklin and... Read more

The Written World

By: Martin Puchner

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Length: 12 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: No

The story of literature in sixteen acts—from Homer to Harry Potter, including The Tale of Genji, Don Quixote, The Communist Manifesto, and how they shaped world history

In this groundbreaking book, Martin Puchner leads us on a remarkable journey through time and around the globe to reveal the how stories and literature have created the world we... Read more

Where the Past Begins

By: Amy Tan

Narrated by: Amy Tan & Daniel Halpern

Length: 14 hours 32 minutes

Abridged: No

In Where the Past Begins, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Valley of Amazement Amy Tan reveals herself in a way she never has before, delving into her childhood, adolescence, family history, beginnings as a writer and professional life to explore the answers to questions of purpose and meaning that we all ask ourselves as we get... Read more

Dear Fahrenheit 451

By: Annie Spence

Narrated by: Stephanie Spicer

Length: 5 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

Librarians spend their lives weeding-not weeds, but books-books that have reached the end of their shelf life both literally and figuratively. They remove books that patrons no longer check out, and they put back books they treasure. Annie Spence, who has a decade of experience as a Midwestern librarian, does this not only at her Michigan... Read more

To Catch A King

By: Charles Spencer

Narrated by: Richard Trinder

Length: 9 hours 18 minutes

Abridged: No

How did the most wanted man in the country outwit the greatest manhunt in British history? In January 1649, King Charles I was beheaded in London outside his palace of Whitehall and Britain became a republic. When his eldest son, Charles, returned in 1651 to fight for his throne, he was crushed by the might of Cromwell’s... Read more

Slugfest

By: Reed Tucker

Narrated by: Will Collyer

Length: 10 hours 43 minutes

Abridged: No

The first in-depth, behind-the-scenes book treatment of the rivalry between the two comic book giants.

THEY ARE THE TWO TITANS OF THE COMIC BOOK INDUSTRY--the Coke and Pepsi of superheroes--and for more than 50 years, Marvel and DC have been locked in an epic battle for spandex supremacy. At stake is not just sales, but cultural relevancy and... Read more

Une maison de poupée de Henrik Ibsen (Analyse de l'oeuvre)

By: lePetitLitteraire, Natalia Torres Behar & Guill...

Narrated by: Denise Dubois

Length: 30 minutes

Abridged: No

Décryptez Une maison de poupée de Henrik Ibsen avec l'analyse du PetitLitteraire.fr !Que faut-il retenir de Une maison de poupée, cette critique des rôles réservés aux femmes dans la société ? Retrouvez tout ce que vous devez savoir sur cette œuvre dans une analyse complète et détaillée.Vous trouverez notamment dans cette fiche :• Un résumé... Read more

La Divine Comédie de Dante Alighieri (Analyse de l'oeuvre)

By: lePetitLitteraire, Natalia Torres Behar & Sarah...

Narrated by: Denise Dubois

Length: 38 minutes

Abridged: No

Décryptez La Divine Comédie de Dante Alighieri avec l'analyse du PetitLitteraire.fr !Que faut-il retenir de La Divine Comédie, ce chef-d'oeuvre de l'histoire de la littérature ? Retrouvez tout ce que vous devez savoir sur cette œuvre dans une analyse complète et détaillée.Vous trouverez notamment dans cette fiche :• Un résumé complet• Une... Read more

L'Amour aux temps du choléra de Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Analyse de l'oeuvre)

By: lePetitLitteraire, Natalia Torres Behar & Sarah...

Narrated by: Denise Dubois

Length: 29 minutes

Abridged: No

Décryptez L'Amour aux temps du choléra de Gabriel García Márquez avec l'analyse du PetitLitteraire.fr !Que faut-il retenir de L'Amour aux temps du choléra, ce chef-d'oeuvre de la littérature sud-américaine ? Retrouvez tout ce que vous devez savoir sur cette œuvre dans une analyse complète et détaillée.Vous trouverez notamment dans cette fiche :•... Read more

La Maison aux esprits de Isabel Allende (Analyse de l'oeuvre)

By: lePetitLitteraire, Natalia Torres Behar & Guill...

Narrated by: Denise Dubois

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

Décryptez La Maison aux esprits de Isabel Allende avec l'analyse du PetitLitteraire.fr !Que faut-il retenir de La Maison aux esprits, ce roman majeur de la littérature sud-américaine ? Retrouvez tout ce que vous devez savoir sur cette œuvre dans une analyse complète et détaillée.Vous trouverez notamment dans cette fiche :• Un résumé complet• Une... Read more