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Oil!
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 19 hrs and 47 mins
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John Buffalo Mailer narrates his father's book
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Performance
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Huge fan of the movie, loved this audiobook!
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The Winter of Our Discontent
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Overall
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Memorable characters, great narration, POOR AUDIO
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A People's History of the United States
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Performance
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For much of his life, historian Howard Zinn chronicled American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official version taught in schools - with its emphasis on great men in high places - to focus on the street, the home, and the workplace. Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History of the United States is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of - and in the words of - America's women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, the working poor, and immigrant laborers.
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Amateur hour in the production booth
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Publisher's summary
Enraged by the oil scandals of the Harding administration in the 1920s, Sinclair tells a gripping tale of avarice, corruption, and class warfare, featuring a cavalcade of characters, including senators, oil magnates, Hollywood film starlets, and a crusading evangelist. Sinclair's glorious 1927 epic endures as one of our most powerful American novels of social injustice.
Critic reviews
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One of my favorites, so far!
- By johnsoneliza on 07-23-20
By: Merle Miller
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A Different Drummer
- By: William Melvin Kelley
- Narrated by: Jay Smooth
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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June 1957. One hot afternoon in the backwaters of the Deep South, a young black farmer named Tucker Caliban salts his fields, shoots his horse, burns his house, and heads north with his wife and child. His departure sets off an exodus of the state’s entire black population, throwing the established order into brilliant disarray. Told from the points of view of the white residents who remained, A Different Drummer stands, decades after its first publication in 1962, as an extraordinary and prescient triumph of satire and spirit.
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A wonderful and moving story
- By E. on 10-25-19
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Lady Bird Johnson
- An Oral History
- By: Michael L. Gillette
- Narrated by: Corinna May
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Over a span of 18 years, Lady Bird Johnson recorded 47 oral history interviews with Michael Gillette and his colleagues. These conversations, just released in 2011, form the heart of Lady Bird Johnson: An Oral History, an intimate story of a shy young country girl's transformation into one of America's most effective and admired First Ladies.
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Fantastic
- By Syd Young on 06-01-19
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The Titan
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: Stuart Langton
- Length: 19 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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The Titan is the second volume in what the author called his "trilogy of desire," featuring the character of Frank Cowperwood, a powerful, irresistibly compelling man driven by his own need for power, beautiful women, and social prestige.
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Not for the faint of heart, but addicting!
- By P. Evans on 09-16-18
By: Theodore Dreiser
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Black Boy
- By: Richard Wright
- Narrated by: Peter Francis James
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Richard Wright's powerful and eloquent memoir of his journey from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South. At once an unashamed confession and a profound indictment, Black Boy is a poignant record of struggle and endurance - a seminal literary work that illuminates our own time. The once controversial, now classic American autobiography measures the brutality and rawness of the Jim Crow South against the sheer desperate will it took to survive as a Black boy. Seventy-five years later, his words continue to reverberate.
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Outstanding
- By Trevin Harvey on 11-11-20
By: Richard Wright
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Love of Life, and Other Stories
- By: Jack London
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone. This collection includes "Love of Life", "A Day's Lodging", "The White Man's Way", "The Story of Keesh", "The Unexpected", "Brown Wolf", "The Sun-Dog Trail", and "Negore, the Coward".
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Review of Love of Life and Other Stories
- By Pre Paid Gift Card on 05-25-16
By: Jack London
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Girl Waits with Gun
- By: Amy Stewart
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1914 collisions between motor cars and horse-drawn carriages are an everyday occurrence on the streets of Paterson, New Jersey. But when an out-of-control driver smashes into a buggy driven by Constance, Norma, and Fleurette Kopp, their lives change forever. Constance, the oldest, demands payment for the damages but quickly realizes that she is dealing with a madman.
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Slice Of Life From Another Time
- By Sara on 11-09-15
By: Amy Stewart
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Aunt Crete's Emancipation
- By: Grace Livingston Hill
- Narrated by: Anne Hancock
- Length: 2 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Aunt Crete has spent a lifetime of toil catering to the needs of her family, especially her waspish sister, Carrie, and social-climbing niece, Louella. When a telegram from a nephew from out west announces his imminent arrival, mother and daughter hasten a trip to the shore to escape the "country cousin" who they are sure will shame them.
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Cute Story with a Great Moral
- By Stephanie Aguilar on 08-03-16
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Cloudy Jewel
- By: Grace Livingston Hill
- Narrated by: Paula Faye Leinweber
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Julia Cloud had a gentle, caring spirit, devoting her life to her Lord Jesus and caring for others, including her invalid mother. After her mother's death she was faced with a bleak life of poverty until an unexpected visit from her wealthy niece and nephew completely changed her life. They were off to college and wanted "Cloudy Jewel", their childhood nickname for Julia, to come and be their mother and chaperone. Thus started a new adventure for all three, full of love and happiness.
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Beautiful Book about Faith and Homemaking
- By Clarinetgal on 06-11-19
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The Rise of Silas Lapham
- By: William Dean Howells
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Howells’ best-known work and a subtle classic of its time, The Rise of Silas Lapham is an elegant tale of Boston society and manners. After garnering a fortune in the paint business, Silas Lapham moves his family from their Vermont farm to the city of Boston in order to improve his social position. The consequences of this endeavor are both humorous and tragic as the greedy Silas brings his company to the brink of bankruptcy.
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Important for the Era
- By Brent on 03-19-23
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Miss Kopp Investigates
- A Kopp Sisters Novel, Book 7
- By: Amy Stewart
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Winter 1919: Norma is summoned home from France, Constance is called back from Washington, and Fleurette puts her own plans on hold as the sisters rally around their recently widowed sister-in-law and her children. How are four women going to support themselves? A chance encounter offers Fleurette a solution: clandestine legal work for a former colleague of Constance's.
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Great series
- By Mimi on 02-07-22
By: Amy Stewart
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Martin Eden
- By: Jack London
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Martin Eden, Jack London’s semiautobiographical novel, is about a struggling young writer. It is considered by many to be the author’s most mature work. Personifying London’s own dreams of education and literary fame as a young man in San Francisco, Martin Eden’s impassioned but ultimately ineffective battle to overcome his bleak circumstances makes him one of the most memorable and poignant characters Jack London ever created.
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My favorite Jack London book.
- By j daly on 11-26-14
By: Jack London
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Great book horrible reader!
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Wonderful Read
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Great book ruined by poor narrator....
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didn't finish
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Great book horrible reader!
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Wonderful Read
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Great book ruined by poor narrator....
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People don't change
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Funny in Perspective
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Powerful document of an all-too-familiar past
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Harry Haller is a sad and lonely figure, a reclusive intellectual for whom life holds no joy. He struggles to reconcile the wild primeval wolf and the rational man within himself without surrendering to the bourgeois values he despises. His life changes dramatically when he meets a woman who is his opposite, the carefree and elusive Hermine.
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Save this Hesse novel for your midlife crisis.
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Volume One of Stalin begins and ends in January 1928 as Stalin boards a train bound for Siberia, about to embark upon the greatest gamble of his political life. He is now the ruler of the largest country in the world, but a poor and backward one, far behind the great capitalist countries in industrial and military power, encircled on all sides. In Siberia, Stalin conceives of the largest program of social reengineering ever attempted.
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Big, Sordid, Fascinating, PoliticallyCorrect
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And you thought the twentieth century was rough...
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Andrew Carnegie
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The Origins of Totalitarianism
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This classic, definitive account of totalitarianism traces the emergence of modern racism as an "ideological weapon for imperialism", beginning with the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe in the 19th century and continuing through the New Imperialism period from 1884 to World War I.
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Vast and intricate analysis of horror
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What listeners say about Oil!
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jennifer Hotz
- 08-26-20
Shows us how we got here into Trump's America
Good story, depressing how the workers of the world are still expendable. Not Trump 2020
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- Heather
- 02-19-12
Some things just don't change
Is there anything you would change about this book?
It is hopelessly dystoptian. It would be nice to have one uplifting moment somewhere in the book.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Oil!?
The section describing Paul's experiences in Russia after WW I. I assume it is based in fact, and I was not aware of US involvement at that time.
What do you think the narrator could have done better?
The narrator was excellent
Did Oil! inspire you to do anything?
It made me look at the current world oil industry in a more comprehensive light
Any additional comments?
Don't expect anyone in the novel to resolve anything in this parade of dismal events in any way that approaches optimism
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- Ben
- 12-21-17
excellent all the way around.
interesting mix of technical descriptions and social descriptions. Very much enjoyed the narrator's voice, style, and cadence. I will
actually search for other books narrated by him. Thanks so much.
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- Anonymous User
- 04-11-21
Overhyped due to movie tie-in?
Having married a California girl I thought this book would answer some of the mysteries as to the remaining oil derricks located in oddly and sometimes secluded places in Southern California. The book starts off intriguingly headed in that direction and then meanders wildly off course. we end up in Paris? why what does that have to do with the California oil rush? For audible to charge for this book but not the Upton Sinclair book ‘coal’ which I thought was better is a sure indication that Audible was looking to cash in on the movie tie in called ‘there will be blood’. How unfortunate. this book was mostly a stinker but I burned one of my monthly credits on it. lesson learned.
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- corey mobley
- 04-12-22
Adapted but not the film for better or worse up to you
Relevant to today by quite a lot. It’s a slice of life story that reads remarkably close to how the 2020’s have come to pass. Worth reading to bring context to that time period and some to today.
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- Sam
- 12-30-22
Very different from movie, but really good story either way!!
I loved the movie “There will be blood” so I exited the book to have the same story. It’s a very different story with many of the same characters. I really enjoyed hearing about what life and politics was like back in the 20s when this book was written/takes place
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Overall
- Gregory
- 05-18-08
an outstanding book
this book, long out-of-print, has suddenly appeared back in print due to the critical popularity of the movie "there will be blood" -- that this book "needed" a loosely adapted screenplay to re-enter the american consciousness is an irony of Sinclarian proportions... this is a majestic book, filled with the type of realism that makes Sinclair's best works so effective; what in a lesser author's hands would have resulted in didactic diatribe, Sinclair never loses -- and never lets the reader lose -- sympathy with his characters, both positive and negative, due to the realism with which their inner and outer lives are portrayed... the narration is excellent, bringing unobtrusively to the fore, Sinclair's sense of humor, irony, and insightful social criticism... "Oil!" is that rarity amongst books -- a book that is itself a highly satisfying work, but one which -- like Samuel Butler's "Edward Pontifex, or The Way of All Flesh" -- leaves the reader wishing that the book were longer, so well drawn are the book's characters and situations... as a life-long devoted reader of Upton Sinclair, who had not previously had the opportunity to read "Oil!", i would unhesitatingly rank it as amongst Sinclair's very best works, which like so many of Sinclair's novels, leave the reader hungry for more...
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32 people found this helpful
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- Beje
- 01-31-15
Outstanding!
If you could sum up Oil! in three words, what would they be?
A controversial jewel.
Who was your favorite character and why?
James Arnold Ross aka Dad, who was a shrewd and determined self-made millionaire. The author set out so precisely Dad's tenderness in guiding his child, who was driven by humanitarian idea, through an unfriendly environment.
What does Grover Gardner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Mr. Gardener brought all the characters to life-- everyone of them. He was fabulous.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
I am particularly drawn to this era of time. That period, and this book, illustrates with distinction the "have's" and "have not's." Here, when Dad learned a worker had lost his life on a rig, I initially was angered he did not provide a stipend for the widow. I mean, he was making money hand over fist so he wouldn't have missed it. It took just a few minutes to realize that even though Dad did not do that-- did not even consider it as a matter of fact, he had acted as a responsible employer by providing insurance that paid her $5,000. (Pennies compared to his millions but responsible according to economics of the period.)
Any additional comments?
I want to point out that the book and the movie aren't akin. I thought the movie was tacky and portrayed Dad in a horrible light. This book places Dad in a more realistic perspective, i.e. business man vs. family man. It's a good read.
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- Rick
- 04-06-15
Not the "Daniel Plainview" I'd hoped for.
Daniel Day Lewis did an excellent job of presenting this epic tale on the big screen but the book, the story of how the oil boom in Southern California actually came about was far less interesting.
I often find myself enthralled with stories involving some financial mastermind. Just as I rooted for Mr. Potter in "It's a Wonderful Life", I saw Daniel Plainview as a person not to be damned but rather to marvel at. Their wit and wisdom in creating monopolies in their fields have something to show each one of us. Just as Rockefeller, and Ford (both excellent listens on Audible), people like this are one in a million, and are far, far above people like Zuckerberg and Gates. But as this book unfolded, the long, long read it took to do so, I found them and the characters in "There will be Blood" to be nicer, and more adept at getting along with society which is refreshing to a degree, but also detracts from the story.
In this read, you'll learn allot about many parts in the movie which seem unanswered but also leave you wondering how he actually got to where he is, which, without the movie you'd hardly know.
You won't be bored with Grover Gardner doing the reading, as often find myself searching for the books he narrates. He does an excellent job to say the least. I just wish he could've told the story in half the time because at times, it seems to drag on.
Nonetheless, I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject, or anyone who enjoys Grover Gardner. It's worth it in the long, long run.
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- Larry Lee
- 08-30-15
Utopia doesn't exist.
This book would be considerably better if "Utopian Socialism" worked. Bunny is naive to the point of stupidity. Also, I can't see where anyone could turn this into There Will Be Blood, with the exception of 2 or 3 names they have nothing at all in common.
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