Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
A Little Life  By  cover art

A Little Life

By: Hanya Yanagihara
Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $31.50

Buy for $31.50

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century.

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE

A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves.

Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.

©2022 Penguin Random House Audio (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Featured Article: The Audible Essentials Top 100


The spirited (but friendly) debate over these titles could have gone on indefinitely. With years of listening, countless customer reviews, and a catalog of seemingly infinite great listens, 100 suddenly felt like a very small number. What we know for sure—each title that made it to this collection is elevated and made special in some way by audio, whether by a layered performance from a single narrator, a brilliantly cohesive full cast, original music, or immersive sound effects. Discover an audio experience for the ages.

What listeners say about A Little Life

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,462
  • 4 Stars
    220
  • 3 Stars
    113
  • 2 Stars
    72
  • 1 Stars
    84
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,519
  • 4 Stars
    168
  • 3 Stars
    67
  • 2 Stars
    24
  • 1 Stars
    29
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,347
  • 4 Stars
    214
  • 3 Stars
    88
  • 2 Stars
    56
  • 1 Stars
    101

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

holy shit

I know ppl talk about how it made them cry. For me, I never felt so seen. there is no way to describe what living with inordinate pain, whilst experiencing unbelievable beauty feels like.
this book puts into words an existence so many of us know very well--but can never, ever say aloud--bc people will institutionalize us. It is a brave space that she has written. so poetically honestly, and beautifully in ALL its twisted agony
the narrator is perfect. his cadence is exactly as it should be. and his voice drips with the emotion needed.
well done.
Thank you for helping me feel that when my time is done...somewhere out there, a story like mine, in all its complexity and pain and beauty and unbelievable trauma---has been etched into eternity.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Little Life

One of the most beautifully, heartbreaking books I’ve ever read.

Willem & Jude. I’m still crying.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautifully heartbreaking.

Absolutely loved this book! Although I did have to take a break, I had to stop and regroup.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely Amazing

From beginning to end, this novel was filled with so much emotion that I found myself crying more than I’d like to admit. I’m so glad I decided to listen to this amazing piece of literature!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Narrator for Audiobook is horrible

I just can’t listen to this audiobook anymore. The narrator is awful. He has zero inflection and makes this painful to listen to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Heartbreaking

The story was so sad and to me it wasn’t in what Jude suffered but the way it affected the positive interpersonal relationships he had. The narrator did a wonderful job.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A very difficult subject matter

One of the most difficult books I have ever read AND one of the most impactful. I will never again judge a person. This book made me examine my conscience regarding how quickly I make up people's backstories. I have gone through life 'guessing' that I know why people say what they say or do what they do or behave in a certain way. Impossible!

I think there are a lot more 'Judes', Willums, Malcolms and J.B.'s walking around this earth than we will ever know. To honor them and others who have suffered similarly, I promise to keep my mind and heart open to everyone I meet, moving forward.

This is a long book. A page skipped may be a decade lost or an intro to an important character. Stick with it. Learn from it. Grow, as a result of having read it. I did all those things, without regret.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

So Dark

Wow ..... Starts out great. Turns soooo dark for the middle(2/3rds) of the book. Then ends.....dark too. If you can handle unimaginable sorrow, but an in-depth story, this morning I'll be a good listen for you.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

so very sad

Such a sad sad story. The writing and narration is great too. Will read more by this author.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderfully written

But some characters carries success are hard to believe. Jude for instance, doesn’t have a balanced life, can’t advocate for himself, but is a amazing lawyer? I just wanted it to be more believable because the story is so amazing. It would just make more sense if everyone wasn’t the best in what they do in the book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!