The Golden Ass

By: Apuleius, E. J. Kenney - translator

Narrated by: David Timson

"In this hapless state I looked myself over and saw that I was now no bird, but an ass...."

In this ancient picaresque adventure, Lucius, an insatiably curious young man, finds himself transformed into a donkey after his fascination with black magic and witchcraft goes awry. While trapped in his new body, he becomes the property of thieves, farmers, cooks, soldiers, and priests, and observes the hypocrisy and ineptitude of Imperial Roman society. The Golden Ass is considered the only novel to survive the Roman period, and the earliest novel to survive complete in the Western literary tradition. It is brimming with slapstick humor and sexual escapades, and foreshadows later works by Boccaccio, Rabelais, Cervantes, and Chaucer, upon whom it was a direct influence.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©1998, 2004 Translation copyright, E.J. Kenney (P)2017 Naxos AudioBooks

2nd listen…still awesome.

Magical tale from Ancient Roman Empire. The theme of this book is don’t play with forces, you don’t understand.

Rich Kid fascinated with occult forces, gets more than he bargains for. They don’t make stories like this anymore. Wonderfully entertaining narrator.

Wasn't what I expected....

It was beyond what I expected. So many laughs. So many esoterica sprinkled throughout. When the Donkey was making love to the lady, I was laughing... And the Bear costume getting the knife.... Glad this beat my expectations, by a long shot... every chapter had me laughing.... RIP apuleius

Excellent!

This is a superb translation and performance of this ancient classic. Any fan of Mythology will gain a new understanding of a favorite myths.

relatable

if you're looking for something to entertain and excite you, will also having some of the best phrases in all of literary history you should really look at the golden ass. the stories are still very close to hitting and surprisingly they deal with a lot of the same things that modern people are worried about.

Hugely enjoyable

Hugely enjoyable reading of a madcap Latin classic. David Timson was born to read this novel.