-
Seeing Through
- A Chronicle of Sex, Drugs, and Opera
- Narrated by: Ricky Ian Gordon
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
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
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Seeing Through
Buy for $29.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
The true confessions of a working opera composer: an exhilarating story of "a life that comes out of chaos".
At eight years old, Ricky Ian Gordon pulled The Victor Book of Opera off his piano teacher’s bookshelf, and his world shifted on its axis. Though scandal, sadness, and confusion would shake that world over the next few decades, its polestar remained constant. Music has been the guiding force of Gordon’s life; through it, he has been able not only to survive great sorrow but also to capture the depths of his emotion in song. It is this strength, this technical and visceral genius, that has made him one of our generation’s greatest composers.
In Seeing Through, Gordon writes with humor, insight, and incredible candor about his life and work: a tumultuous youth on Long Island, his artistic collaborations and obsessions, the creation of his compositions (including The Grapes of Wrath, 27, Orpheus and Euridice, Intimate Apparel, Ellen West, and more), his addictions and the abuses he endured, and the loss of his partner to AIDS and the devastation of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. As Gordon writes of that period: “We were, thousands of us, Lazarus. We had to rise from the ashes. We didn’t have to rebuild our lives, we had to build new ones.”
Gordon has succeeded in building a remarkable life, as well as a body of work that bears witness to all he survived in the process—one that will endure as a pivotal chapter in America's songbook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Related to this topic
-
Hillbilly Elegy
- A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
- By: J. D. Vance
- Narrated by: J. D. Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55,380
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49,208
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49,110
Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis - that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over 40 years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
In Mamaw's Contradictions Lay Great Wisdom
- By Cynthia on 11-20-16
By: J. D. Vance
-
The Women
- A Novel
- By: Kristin Hannah
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Kristin Hannah
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 29,007
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 27,912
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 27,913
Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
WOW. Just Wow
- By Joanne DeVuono on 02-08-24
By: Kristin Hannah
-
The Briar Club
- A Novel
- By: Kate Quinn
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 254
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 245
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 245
Washington, DC, 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship. Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
History with a dash of sass
- By Elizabeth S. on 07-15-24
By: Kate Quinn
-
Atomic Habits
- An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
- By: James Clear
- Narrated by: James Clear
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 136,227
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 111,392
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 110,338
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving - every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Author went overboard hawking his site
- By CHughes on 06-25-19
By: James Clear
-
Eruption
- By: Michael Crichton, James Patterson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,454
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 3,324
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,323
Michael Crichton, creator of Jurassic Park, ER, Twister, and Westworld, had a passion project he’d been pursuing for years, ahead of his untimely passing in 2008. Knowing how special it was, his wife, Sherri Crichton, held back his notes and the partial manuscript until she found the right author to complete it: James Patterson, the world’s most popular storyteller.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I expected a better story
- By Robert Powers on 06-06-24
By: Michael Crichton, and others
-
48 Laws of Power
- By: Robert Greene
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 23 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 24,361
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 20,242
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 20,120
Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills 3,000 years of the history of power into 48 well-explicated laws. This bold volume outlines the laws of power in their unvarnished essence, synthesizing the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and other infamous strategists. The 48 Laws of Power will fascinate any listener interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
You don't have to be a psychopath to like this.
- By Gaggleframpf on 02-25-16
By: Robert Greene
-
Hillbilly Elegy
- A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
- By: J. D. Vance
- Narrated by: J. D. Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55,380
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49,208
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49,110
Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis - that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over 40 years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
In Mamaw's Contradictions Lay Great Wisdom
- By Cynthia on 11-20-16
By: J. D. Vance
-
The Women
- A Novel
- By: Kristin Hannah
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Kristin Hannah
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 29,007
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 27,912
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 27,913
Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
WOW. Just Wow
- By Joanne DeVuono on 02-08-24
By: Kristin Hannah
-
The Briar Club
- A Novel
- By: Kate Quinn
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 254
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 245
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 245
Washington, DC, 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship. Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
History with a dash of sass
- By Elizabeth S. on 07-15-24
By: Kate Quinn
-
Atomic Habits
- An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
- By: James Clear
- Narrated by: James Clear
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 136,227
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 111,392
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 110,338
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving - every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Author went overboard hawking his site
- By CHughes on 06-25-19
By: James Clear
-
Eruption
- By: Michael Crichton, James Patterson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,454
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 3,324
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,323
Michael Crichton, creator of Jurassic Park, ER, Twister, and Westworld, had a passion project he’d been pursuing for years, ahead of his untimely passing in 2008. Knowing how special it was, his wife, Sherri Crichton, held back his notes and the partial manuscript until she found the right author to complete it: James Patterson, the world’s most popular storyteller.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I expected a better story
- By Robert Powers on 06-06-24
By: Michael Crichton, and others
-
48 Laws of Power
- By: Robert Greene
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 23 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 24,361
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 20,242
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 20,120
Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills 3,000 years of the history of power into 48 well-explicated laws. This bold volume outlines the laws of power in their unvarnished essence, synthesizing the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and other infamous strategists. The 48 Laws of Power will fascinate any listener interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
You don't have to be a psychopath to like this.
- By Gaggleframpf on 02-25-16
By: Robert Greene