
Curiosity
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
John McDonough
-
By:
-
Alberto Manguel
About this listen
Alberto Manguel's The History of Reading was an international best seller translated into 34 languages and for which Manguel earned the Medicis Prize. Fourteen years later Manguel anchors his new book in the primal connection between reading and curiosity.
Tracing 25 centuries of human history, from the fourth century BC to the present day, Manguel dedicates each of his chapters to a single character - ranging from our best-known thinkers, scientists, and artists to seemingly minor figures of whom we know little more than one inspired utterance - in whom he identifies a particular way of asking the question "why?" Above all he aims to "awake in readers a consciousness of their own powers of enquiry and imagination, of their right to doubt and contest assumed answers, and of their responsibility in furthering the questions our ancestors were asking far away and long ago".
©2015 Alberto Manguel (P)2015 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
Stolen Focus
- Why You Can't Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again
- By: Johann Hari
- Narrated by: Johann Hari
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the United States, teenagers can focus on one task for only sixty-five seconds at a time, and office workers average only three minutes. Like so many of us, Johann Hari was finding that constantly switching from device to device and tab to tab was a diminishing and depressing way to live. He tried all sorts of self-help solutions—even abandoning his phone for three months—but nothing seemed to work. So Hari went on an epic journey across the world to interview the leading experts on human attention—and he discovered that everything we think we know about this crisis is wrong.
-
-
Needs a little sharpening
- By LEE on 02-01-22
By: Johann Hari
-
Packing My Library
- An Elegy and Ten Digressions
- By: Alberto Manguel
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In June 2015 Alberto Manguel prepared to leave his centuries-old village home in France's Loire Valley and reestablish himself in a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Packing up his enormous, 35,000 volume personal library, choosing which books to keep, store, or cast out, Manguel found himself in deep reverie on the nature of relationships between books and readers, books and collectors, order and disorder, memory and reading.
-
-
Great Bookish Essays with a Classicist Bent
- By Amazon Customer on 11-06-24
By: Alberto Manguel
-
The Swerve
- How the World Became Modern
- By: Stephen Greenblatt
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nearly six hundred years ago, a short, genial, cannily alert man in his late 30s took a very old manuscript off a library shelf, saw with excitement what he had discovered, and ordered that it be copied. That book was the last surviving manuscript of an ancient Roman philosophical epic by Lucretius—a beautiful poem containing the most dangerous ideas: that the universe functioned without the aid of gods, that religious fear was damaging to human life, and that matter was made up of very small particles.
-
-
Very compelling history, a less compelling thesis
- By A reader on 05-01-12
-
Why Jesus?
- Rediscovering His Truth in an Age of Mass-Marketed Spirituality
- By: Ravi Zacharias
- Narrated by: Ravi Zacharias
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Why Jesus?, Ravi Zacharias looks at the impact of this "storm" by discussing the 60s-70s "Age of Aquarius," actor Shirley MacLaine's book and TV series Out on a Limb, author James Redfield (The Celestine Prophecy), Rhonda Byrne (The Secret), Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code), and other books by Eckart Tolle, Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, the Dali Lama, and Marianne Williamson. Special attention will be given to the influence of Oprah Winfrey's media platform in reshaping society by introducing and promoting certain books and authors.
-
-
Unveiling roots of thoughts, motives, philosophies
- By Annie Hall on 10-08-12
By: Ravi Zacharias
-
Reading Between the Lines
- A Christian Guide to Literature
- By: Gene Edward Veith Jr.
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a guidebook for those who want to learn how to recognize books that are spiritually and aesthetically good - to cultivate good literary taste. Gene Edward Veith presents basic information to help book lovers understand what they read, from the classics to best sellers.
-
-
Great Reference Book for Recommendations
- By Anonymous User on 05-03-21
-
The Truth and Beauty
- How the Lives and Works of England's Greatest Poets Point the Way to a Deeper Understanding of the Words of Jesus
- By: Andrew Klavan
- Narrated by: Andrew Klavan
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The words of Jesus can be as mysterious as they are familiar. For those seeking greater understanding of the Gospels through storytelling and poetry comes this book by Andrew Klavan, who chronicles his own inspiring, late-in-life journey to achieve a fresh perspective and deep connection to Jesus' most well-known and complex biblical passages.
-
-
Keep writing non-fiction AK
- By The Wirths on 04-10-22
By: Andrew Klavan
-
Stolen Focus
- Why You Can't Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again
- By: Johann Hari
- Narrated by: Johann Hari
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the United States, teenagers can focus on one task for only sixty-five seconds at a time, and office workers average only three minutes. Like so many of us, Johann Hari was finding that constantly switching from device to device and tab to tab was a diminishing and depressing way to live. He tried all sorts of self-help solutions—even abandoning his phone for three months—but nothing seemed to work. So Hari went on an epic journey across the world to interview the leading experts on human attention—and he discovered that everything we think we know about this crisis is wrong.
-
-
Needs a little sharpening
- By LEE on 02-01-22
By: Johann Hari
-
Packing My Library
- An Elegy and Ten Digressions
- By: Alberto Manguel
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In June 2015 Alberto Manguel prepared to leave his centuries-old village home in France's Loire Valley and reestablish himself in a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Packing up his enormous, 35,000 volume personal library, choosing which books to keep, store, or cast out, Manguel found himself in deep reverie on the nature of relationships between books and readers, books and collectors, order and disorder, memory and reading.
-
-
Great Bookish Essays with a Classicist Bent
- By Amazon Customer on 11-06-24
By: Alberto Manguel
-
The Swerve
- How the World Became Modern
- By: Stephen Greenblatt
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nearly six hundred years ago, a short, genial, cannily alert man in his late 30s took a very old manuscript off a library shelf, saw with excitement what he had discovered, and ordered that it be copied. That book was the last surviving manuscript of an ancient Roman philosophical epic by Lucretius—a beautiful poem containing the most dangerous ideas: that the universe functioned without the aid of gods, that religious fear was damaging to human life, and that matter was made up of very small particles.
-
-
Very compelling history, a less compelling thesis
- By A reader on 05-01-12
-
Why Jesus?
- Rediscovering His Truth in an Age of Mass-Marketed Spirituality
- By: Ravi Zacharias
- Narrated by: Ravi Zacharias
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Why Jesus?, Ravi Zacharias looks at the impact of this "storm" by discussing the 60s-70s "Age of Aquarius," actor Shirley MacLaine's book and TV series Out on a Limb, author James Redfield (The Celestine Prophecy), Rhonda Byrne (The Secret), Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code), and other books by Eckart Tolle, Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, the Dali Lama, and Marianne Williamson. Special attention will be given to the influence of Oprah Winfrey's media platform in reshaping society by introducing and promoting certain books and authors.
-
-
Unveiling roots of thoughts, motives, philosophies
- By Annie Hall on 10-08-12
By: Ravi Zacharias
-
Reading Between the Lines
- A Christian Guide to Literature
- By: Gene Edward Veith Jr.
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a guidebook for those who want to learn how to recognize books that are spiritually and aesthetically good - to cultivate good literary taste. Gene Edward Veith presents basic information to help book lovers understand what they read, from the classics to best sellers.
-
-
Great Reference Book for Recommendations
- By Anonymous User on 05-03-21
-
The Truth and Beauty
- How the Lives and Works of England's Greatest Poets Point the Way to a Deeper Understanding of the Words of Jesus
- By: Andrew Klavan
- Narrated by: Andrew Klavan
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The words of Jesus can be as mysterious as they are familiar. For those seeking greater understanding of the Gospels through storytelling and poetry comes this book by Andrew Klavan, who chronicles his own inspiring, late-in-life journey to achieve a fresh perspective and deep connection to Jesus' most well-known and complex biblical passages.
-
-
Keep writing non-fiction AK
- By The Wirths on 04-10-22
By: Andrew Klavan
-
The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis
- How Great Books Shaped a Great Mind
- By: Jason M Baxter
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
C. S. Lewis had one of the great minds of the 20th century. Many know Lewis as an author of fiction and fantasy literature, including the Chronicles of Narnia and the Space Trilogy. Others know him for his books in apologetics, including Mere Christianity and The Problem of Pain. But few know him for his scholarly work as a professor of medieval and Renaissance literature. What shaped the mind of this great thinker?
-
-
Excellent
- By andrew wilson smith on 03-08-22
By: Jason M Baxter
-
The Bible Jesus Read
- Why the Old Testament Matters
- By: Philip Yancey
- Narrated by: Philip Yancey
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Bible Jesus Read, Yancey challenges the perception that the New Testament is more important than the Old. Writing with keen insight into the human condition and God’s provision for it, he sets off on a personal journey through the parts we most like to keep at arm’s length—Job, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and the Prophets—and he asks us to bring our own questions, concerns, and our openness to the wonders of God.
-
-
The title is misleading?
- By Jamie on 06-25-03
By: Philip Yancey
-
How to Live
- Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer
- By: Sarah Bakewell
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This question obsessed Renaissance writers, none more than Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, perhaps the first recognizably modern individual. A nobleman, public official, and winegrower, he wrote free-roaming explorations of his thought and experience, unlike anything written before. He called them essays, meaning “attempts” or “tries.” He put whatever was in his head into them: his tastes in wine and food, his childhood memories, the way his dog’s ears twitched when it was dreaming, as well as the religious wars....
-
-
Interesting and in parts Inspired.
- By Darwin8u on 05-21-12
By: Sarah Bakewell
-
Simply Christian
- By: N. T. Wright
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Simply Christian walks the listener through the Christian faith step by step and question by question. With simple yet exciting and accessible prose, Wright challenges skeptics by offering explanations for even the toughest doubt-filled dilemmas, leaving believers with a reason for renewed faith. For anyone who wants to travel beyond the controversies that can obscure what the Christian faith really stands for, this simple book is the perfect vehicle for that journey.
-
-
Excellent
- By James on 04-29-08
By: N. T. Wright
-
The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve
- By: Stephen Greenblatt
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bolder even than the ambitious books for which Stephen Greenblatt is already renowned, The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve explores the enduring story of humanity's first parents. Comprising only a few ancient verses, the story of Adam and Eve has served as a mirror in which we seem to glimpse the whole long history of our fears and desires, as both a hymn to human responsibility and a dark fable about human wretchedness.
-
-
For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return
- By Darwin8u on 02-11-18
-
Reflections on the Psalms
- By: C. S. Lewis
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 3 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In one of his most enlightening works, C. S. Lewis shares his ruminations on both the form and the meaning of selected psalms. In the introduction he explains, "I write for the unlearned about things in which I am unlearned myself." Consequently, he takes on a tone of thoughtful collegiality as he writes on one of the Bible's most elusive books.
-
-
A CS book unlike no other
- By Daniel on 01-14-06
By: C. S. Lewis
-
The Cave and the Light
- Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 25 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Cave and the Light reveals how two Greek philosophers became the twin fountainheads of Western culture, and how their rivalry gave Western civilization its unique dynamism down to the present.
-
-
All of Western Philosphy Leads to Ayn Rand?!?
- By Leslie on 06-22-15
By: Arthur Herman
-
The Genius of Judaism
- By: Bernard-Henri Lévy, Steven B. Kennedy - translator
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than four decades, Bernard-Henri Lévy has been a singular figure on the world stage - one of the great moral voices of our time. Now Europe's foremost philosopher and activist confronts his spiritual roots and the religion that has always inspired and shaped him - but that he has never fully reckoned with. The Genius of Judaism is a breathtaking new vision and understanding of what it means to be a Jew, a vision quite different from the one we're used to.
-
-
Not about Judaism
- By lb on 03-17-17
By: Bernard-Henri Lévy, and others
-
William Blake vs the World
- By: John Higgs
- Narrated by: John Higgs
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A wild and unexpected journey through culture, science, philosophy, and religion to better understand the mercurial genius of William Blake.
-
-
Best book ever
- By idamae on 11-04-22
By: John Higgs
-
The Western Canon
- The Books and School of the Ages
- By: Harold Bloom
- Narrated by: James Armstrong
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harold Bloom explores our Western literary tradition by concentrating on the works of twenty-six authors central to the Canon. He argues against ideology in literary criticism; he laments the loss of intellectual and aesthetic standards; he deplores multiculturalism, Marxism, feminism, neoconservatism, Afrocentrism, and the New Historicism. Insisting instead upon "the autonomy of aesthetic," Bloom places Shakespeare at the center of the Western Canon.....
-
-
A personal and opinionated book on the Canon
- By Steffen on 07-23-12
By: Harold Bloom
-
The Book of Job
- When Bad Things Happened to a Good Person
- By: Harold S. Kushner
- Narrated by: Harold S. Kushner
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of our most trusted spiritual advisers, a thoughtful, illuminating guide to that most fascinating of biblical texts, the book of Job, and what it can teach us about living in a troubled world.
-
-
Insightful, informative and interesting
- By David on 02-10-14
-
The Year of Our Lord 1943
- Christian Humanism in an Age of Crisis
- By: Alan Jacobs
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By early 1943, it had become increasingly clear the Allies would win the Second World War. Christian intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic thought the soon-to-be-victorious nations were not culturally or morally prepared for their success. These Christian intellectuals - Jacques Maritain, T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis, W. H. Auden, and Simone Weil, among others - sought both to articulate a sober and reflective critique of their own culture and to outline a plan for the moral and spiritual regeneration of their countries in the post-war world.
-
-
The Audible is a Train Wreck
- By John on 09-04-18
By: Alan Jacobs
What listeners say about Curiosity
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 03-27-22
insightful sweep of the comedia
I've read the comedia and several commentaries. this work expands Dante into our time and literature. I liked learning about other commentaries in bite-sized snippets.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful