-
Skippy Dies
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber, Fred Berman, Clodagh Bowyer, Terry Donnelly, Sean Gormley, Khristine Hvam, John Keating, Lawrence Lowry, Graeme Malcolm, Paul Nugent
- Length: 23 hrs and 36 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
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
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
This touching and uproarious novel by author Paul Murray made everyone’s best fiction of 2010 lists, including The Washington Post, Financial Times, Village Voice, and others. Why Skippy dies and what happens next is the mystery that links the boys of Dublin’s Seabrook College (Ruprecht Van Doren, the overweight genius obsessed with string theory; Carl, the teenager drug dealer and borderline psychotic; Philip Kilfether, the basketball-playing midget) to their parents and teachers in ways that no one could have imagined.
This unique production of Murray’s heartfelt exploration of the pain, joy, and beauty of adolescence features an all-star narrating cast of 16 Audible favorites: John Keating, Graeme Malcom, Khristine Hvam, Nicola Barber, Fred Berman, Clodagh Bowyer, Terry Donnelly, Sean Gormley, Lawrence Lowry, Paul Nugent, Tim Smallwood, Fiona Walsh, Fiana Toibin, Declan Sammon, Heather O'Neill, and Ed Malone.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Bee Sting
- A Novel
- By: Paul Murray
- Narrated by: Heather O’Sullivan, Barry Fitzgerald, Beau Holland, and others
- Length: 26 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie’s once-lucrative car business is going under—but Dickie is spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife, Imelda, is selling off her jewelry on eBay and half-heartedly dodging the attention of fast-talking cattle farmer Big Mike, while their teenage daughter, Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge drink her way through her final exams. As for twelve-year-old PJ, he’s on the brink of running away.
-
-
Bone Clocks meets Jonathan Franzen
- By Cranson on 10-26-23
By: Paul Murray
-
The Mark and the Void
- A Novel
- By: Paul Murray
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While marooned at his banking job in the bewilderingly damp and insular realm known as Ireland, Claude Martingale is approached by a down-on-his-luck author, Paul, looking for his next great subject. Claude finds that his life gets steadily more exciting under Paul's fictionalizing influence; he even falls in love with a beautiful waitress. But Paul's plan is not what it seems - and neither is Claude's employer, the Investment Bank of Torabundo, which swells through dodgy takeovers and derivatives trading until - well, you can probably guess how that shakes out.
-
-
Well read but frustrating story
- By Michael on 05-26-16
By: Paul Murray
-
Pearl
- By: Siân Hughes
- Narrated by: Laura Brydon
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marianne is eight years old when her mother goes missing. Left behind with her baby brother and grieving father in a ramshackle house on the edge of a small village, she clings to the fragmented memories of her mother’s love; the smell of fresh herbs, the games they played, and the songs and stories of her childhood. As time passes, Marianne struggles to adjust, fixated on her mother’s disappearance and the secrets she’s sure her father is keeping from her.
-
-
a meditation of memory, grief, and motherhood.
- By Barbara S on 10-08-23
By: Siân Hughes
-
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
- A Novel
- By: James McBride
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.
-
-
Multiple Stories Obfuscate Narrative
- By Stephnsea on 08-12-23
By: James McBride
-
Birnam Wood
- A Novel
- By: Eleanor Catton
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A landslide has closed the Korowai Pass on New Zealand’s South Island, cutting off the town of Thorndike and leaving a sizable farm abandoned. The disaster presents an opportunity for Birnam Wood, an undeclared, unregulated, sometimes-criminal, sometimes-philanthropic guerrilla gardening collective that plants crops wherever no one will notice. For years, the group has struggled to break even. To occupy the farm at Thorndike would mean a shot at solvency at last. But the enigmatic American billionaire Robert Lemoine also has an interest in the place.
-
-
Outstanding thriller w/ exceptional character development
- By Bradley T. Collins on 04-21-23
By: Eleanor Catton
-
Wellness
- A Novel
- By: Nathan Hill
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 18 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students in the gritty '90s Chicago art scene, the two quickly join forces and hold on tight, each eager to claim a place in the thriving underground scene with an appreciative kindred spirit. Fast-forward twenty years to suburban married life, and alongside the challenges of parenting, they encounter the often-baffling pursuits of health and happiness from polyamorous would-be suitors to home-renovation hysteria.
-
-
you have to believe it'll work
- By Alex halladay on 09-22-23
By: Nathan Hill
-
The Bee Sting
- A Novel
- By: Paul Murray
- Narrated by: Heather O’Sullivan, Barry Fitzgerald, Beau Holland, and others
- Length: 26 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie’s once-lucrative car business is going under—but Dickie is spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife, Imelda, is selling off her jewelry on eBay and half-heartedly dodging the attention of fast-talking cattle farmer Big Mike, while their teenage daughter, Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge drink her way through her final exams. As for twelve-year-old PJ, he’s on the brink of running away.
-
-
Bone Clocks meets Jonathan Franzen
- By Cranson on 10-26-23
By: Paul Murray
-
The Mark and the Void
- A Novel
- By: Paul Murray
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While marooned at his banking job in the bewilderingly damp and insular realm known as Ireland, Claude Martingale is approached by a down-on-his-luck author, Paul, looking for his next great subject. Claude finds that his life gets steadily more exciting under Paul's fictionalizing influence; he even falls in love with a beautiful waitress. But Paul's plan is not what it seems - and neither is Claude's employer, the Investment Bank of Torabundo, which swells through dodgy takeovers and derivatives trading until - well, you can probably guess how that shakes out.
-
-
Well read but frustrating story
- By Michael on 05-26-16
By: Paul Murray
-
Pearl
- By: Siân Hughes
- Narrated by: Laura Brydon
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marianne is eight years old when her mother goes missing. Left behind with her baby brother and grieving father in a ramshackle house on the edge of a small village, she clings to the fragmented memories of her mother’s love; the smell of fresh herbs, the games they played, and the songs and stories of her childhood. As time passes, Marianne struggles to adjust, fixated on her mother’s disappearance and the secrets she’s sure her father is keeping from her.
-
-
a meditation of memory, grief, and motherhood.
- By Barbara S on 10-08-23
By: Siân Hughes
-
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
- A Novel
- By: James McBride
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.
-
-
Multiple Stories Obfuscate Narrative
- By Stephnsea on 08-12-23
By: James McBride
-
Birnam Wood
- A Novel
- By: Eleanor Catton
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A landslide has closed the Korowai Pass on New Zealand’s South Island, cutting off the town of Thorndike and leaving a sizable farm abandoned. The disaster presents an opportunity for Birnam Wood, an undeclared, unregulated, sometimes-criminal, sometimes-philanthropic guerrilla gardening collective that plants crops wherever no one will notice. For years, the group has struggled to break even. To occupy the farm at Thorndike would mean a shot at solvency at last. But the enigmatic American billionaire Robert Lemoine also has an interest in the place.
-
-
Outstanding thriller w/ exceptional character development
- By Bradley T. Collins on 04-21-23
By: Eleanor Catton
-
Wellness
- A Novel
- By: Nathan Hill
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 18 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students in the gritty '90s Chicago art scene, the two quickly join forces and hold on tight, each eager to claim a place in the thriving underground scene with an appreciative kindred spirit. Fast-forward twenty years to suburban married life, and alongside the challenges of parenting, they encounter the often-baffling pursuits of health and happiness from polyamorous would-be suitors to home-renovation hysteria.
-
-
you have to believe it'll work
- By Alex halladay on 09-22-23
By: Nathan Hill
-
Tom Lake
- A Novel
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Meryl Streep
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
-
-
So incredibly boring
- By Rhonda Morrison on 08-05-23
By: Ann Patchett
-
The Secret Hours
- By: Mick Herron
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two years ago, a hostile Prime Minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, investigating "historical over-reaching" by the British Secret Service “to investigate historical over-reaching.” Monochrome’s mission was to ferret out any hint of misconduct by any MI5 officer—and allowed Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, the two civil servants seconded to the project, unfettered access to any and all confidential information in the Service archives in order to do so. But MI5’s formidable First Desk did not become Britain’s top spy by accident, and she has successfully thwarted the inquiry at every turn.
-
-
Just about perfect
- By June Lapidow on 09-28-23
By: Mick Herron
-
The Goldfinch
- By: Donna Tartt
- Narrated by: David Pittu
- Length: 32 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling force and acuity. It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.
-
-
Boy, am I in the minority on this one.
- By Bonny on 11-04-13
By: Donna Tartt
-
We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
- Bobiverse, Book 1
- By: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There's a reason We Are Legion was named Audible's Best Science Fiction Book of 2016: Its irresistibly irreverent wit! Bob Johansson has just sold his software company for a small fortune and is looking forward to a life of leisure. The first item on his to-do list: Spending his newfound windfall. On an urge to splurge, he signs up to have his head cryogenically preserved in case of death. Then he gets himself killed crossing the street. Waking up 117 years later, Bob discovers his mind has been uploaded into a sentient space probe with the ability to replicate itself.
-
-
Ignore the Publisher's Summary! This is Amazing!
- By PW on 04-12-17
By: Dennis E. Taylor
-
Columbus Day
- Expeditionary Force, Book 1
- By: Craig Alanson
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We were fighting on the wrong side of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news. The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits. When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved.
-
-
WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 01-04-17
By: Craig Alanson
-
Ender's Shadow
- By: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir, full cast
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The human race is at War with the "Buggers," an insect-like alien race. As Earth prepares to defend itself from total destruction at the hands of an inscrutable enemy, all focus is on the development of military geniuses who can fight such a war, and win. The long distances of interstellar space have given hope to the defenders of Earth--they have time to train these future commanders up from childhood, forging them into an irresistible force in the high orbital facility called the Battle School.
-
-
Totally Card
- By L. on 10-10-05
By: Orson Scott Card
-
Western Lane
- By: Chetna Maroo
- Narrated by: Maya Soroya
- Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eleven-year-old Gopi has been playing squash since she was old enough to hold a racket. When her mother dies, her father enlists her in a quietly brutal training regimen, and the game becomes her world. Slowly, she grows apart from her sisters. Her life is reduced to the sport, guided by its rhythms: the serve, the volley, the drive, the shot and its echo. But on the court, she is not alone. She is with her pa. She is with Ged, a thirteen-year-old boy with his own formidable talent. She is with the players who have come before her. She is in awe.
-
-
Quiet story that is really interesting
- By Garth on 06-11-23
By: Chetna Maroo
-
Lord of the Flies
- By: William Golding
- Narrated by: William Golding
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marooned on a tropical island, alone in a world of uncharted possibilities, and devoid of adult supervision or rules, a group of British boys begins to forge a society with its own unique rules and rituals.
-
-
Great story - bad narration
- By A Mom on 03-05-08
By: William Golding
-
The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, Book 1)
- By: Maggie Stiefvater
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive. Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them - not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her. His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble. But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain.
-
-
Predictable Prep Boy Meets Witchy Girl
- By FanB14 on 01-29-13
-
Monster Hunter International
- By: Larry Correia
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 24 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a 14th story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer. It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit.
-
-
Suprizingly entertaining
- By Konstantin on 02-17-12
By: Larry Correia
-
Where'd You Go, Bernadette
- A Novel
- By: Maria Semple
- Narrated by: Kathleen Wilhoite
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.
Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle - and people in general - has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands.
-
-
Misleading cover contains excellent novel
- By JillHen on 01-28-16
By: Maria Semple
-
Ruins of the Earth
- Ruins of the Earth, Book 1
- By: Christopher Hopper, J. N. Chaney
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A secret buried in the Antarctic. A puzzle unsolved for thousands of years. And a Brooklyn-born master gunnery sergeant who's royally pissed that he has to babysit the researchers sent to figure it all out. But when Patrick "Wic" Finnegan finally sees what the team has uncovered, he can't believe his eyes, nor is he prepared for the violence to come. Soon, the portal opens and unleashes a storm of unbridled fury upon humanity.
-
-
I really wanted to like this.
- By Jeremy Korpi on 04-06-21
By: Christopher Hopper, and others
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
The Boy Who Could See Demons
- A Novel
- By: Carolyn Jess-Cooke
- Narrated by: Bruce Mann, Carolyn Jess-Cooke
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Anya Molokova, a child psychiatrist, is called in to work at MacNeice House, an adolescent mental health treatment center. There she is told to observe and assess Alex Connolly, a keenly intelligent, sensitive ten-year-old coping with his mother's latest suicide attempt. Alex is in need of serious counseling: He has been harming himself and others, often during blackouts. At the root of his destructive behavior, Alex claims, is his imaginary "friend" Ruen, a cunning demon who urges Alex to bend to his often violent will.
-
-
HOLY COW!!! Give me more, please!!!
- By Mary on 09-15-13
-
Stories
- All-New Tales
- By: Neil Gaiman - author/editor, Al Sarrantonio - editor, Joe Hill, and others
- Narrated by: Anne Bobby, Jonathan Davis, Katherine Kellgren, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The best stories pull readers in and keep them turning the pages, eager to discover more—to find the answer to the question: "And then what happened?" The true hallmark of great literature is great imagination, and as Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio prove with this outstanding collection, when it comes to great fiction, all genres are equal.
-
-
Something for Everyone
- By Nicole on 05-24-17
By: Neil Gaiman - author/editor, and others
-
The White Devil
- By: Justin Evans
- Narrated by: Christian Coulson
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Harrow School is home to privileged adolescents known as much for their distinctive dress and traditions as for their arrogance and schoolboy cruelty. Seventeen-year-old American Andrew Taylor is enrolled in the esteemed British institution by his father, who hopes that the school's discipline will put some distance between his son and his troubled past in the States. But trouble - and danger - seem to follow Andrew. When one of his schoolmates and friends dies mysteriously of a severe pulmonary illness, Andrew is blamed and is soon an outcast....
-
-
Eerie tale, well read
- By MJ on 12-21-11
By: Justin Evans
-
Shadow Show
- All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury
- By: Sam Weller - editor, Mort Castle - editor
- Narrated by: George Takei, Edward Herrmann, Kate Mulgrew, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ray Bradbury - peerless storyteller, poet of the impossible, and one of America's most beloved authors - is a literary giant whose remarkable career spanned seven decades. Now 26 of today's most diverse and celebrated authors offer new short works in honor of the master; stories of heart, intelligence, and dark wonder from a remarkable range of creative artists.
-
-
THE MAN WHO FORGOT RAY BRADBURY
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 05-27-17
By: Sam Weller - editor, and others
-
The Epic Crush of Genie Lo
- By: F. C. Yee
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The struggle to get into a top-tier college consumes 16-year-old Genie's every waking thought. But when she discovers she's a celestial spirit who's powerful enough to bash through the gates of heaven with her fists, her perfectionist existence is shattered. Enter Quentin, a transfer student from China whose tone-deaf assertiveness beguiles Genie to the brink of madness. Quentin nurtures Genie's bodacious transformation - sometimes gently, sometimes aggressively - as her sleepy suburb in the Bay Area comes under siege from hell spawn.
-
-
Enjoyed it more than I expected.
- By kevin on 07-27-21
By: F. C. Yee
-
Vita Nostra
- A Novel
- By: Sergey Dyachenko, Marina Dyachenko, Julia Meitov Hersey - translator
- Narrated by: Jessica Ball
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sasha Samokhina meets the mysterious Farit Kozhennikov under the most peculiar circumstances. The teenage girl is powerless to refuse when this strange and unusual man with an air of the sinister directs her to perform a task with potentially scandalous consequences. He rewards her effort with a strange golden coin. As the days progress, Sasha carries out other acts for which she receives more coins from Kozhennikov. As summer ends, her domineering mentor directs her to move to a remote village and use her gold to enter the Institute of Special Technologies.
-
-
Dark but beautiful
- By J. OBrennan on 11-19-18
By: Sergey Dyachenko, and others
-
The Boy Who Could See Demons
- A Novel
- By: Carolyn Jess-Cooke
- Narrated by: Bruce Mann, Carolyn Jess-Cooke
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Anya Molokova, a child psychiatrist, is called in to work at MacNeice House, an adolescent mental health treatment center. There she is told to observe and assess Alex Connolly, a keenly intelligent, sensitive ten-year-old coping with his mother's latest suicide attempt. Alex is in need of serious counseling: He has been harming himself and others, often during blackouts. At the root of his destructive behavior, Alex claims, is his imaginary "friend" Ruen, a cunning demon who urges Alex to bend to his often violent will.
-
-
HOLY COW!!! Give me more, please!!!
- By Mary on 09-15-13
-
Stories
- All-New Tales
- By: Neil Gaiman - author/editor, Al Sarrantonio - editor, Joe Hill, and others
- Narrated by: Anne Bobby, Jonathan Davis, Katherine Kellgren, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The best stories pull readers in and keep them turning the pages, eager to discover more—to find the answer to the question: "And then what happened?" The true hallmark of great literature is great imagination, and as Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio prove with this outstanding collection, when it comes to great fiction, all genres are equal.
-
-
Something for Everyone
- By Nicole on 05-24-17
By: Neil Gaiman - author/editor, and others
-
The White Devil
- By: Justin Evans
- Narrated by: Christian Coulson
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Harrow School is home to privileged adolescents known as much for their distinctive dress and traditions as for their arrogance and schoolboy cruelty. Seventeen-year-old American Andrew Taylor is enrolled in the esteemed British institution by his father, who hopes that the school's discipline will put some distance between his son and his troubled past in the States. But trouble - and danger - seem to follow Andrew. When one of his schoolmates and friends dies mysteriously of a severe pulmonary illness, Andrew is blamed and is soon an outcast....
-
-
Eerie tale, well read
- By MJ on 12-21-11
By: Justin Evans
-
Shadow Show
- All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury
- By: Sam Weller - editor, Mort Castle - editor
- Narrated by: George Takei, Edward Herrmann, Kate Mulgrew, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ray Bradbury - peerless storyteller, poet of the impossible, and one of America's most beloved authors - is a literary giant whose remarkable career spanned seven decades. Now 26 of today's most diverse and celebrated authors offer new short works in honor of the master; stories of heart, intelligence, and dark wonder from a remarkable range of creative artists.
-
-
THE MAN WHO FORGOT RAY BRADBURY
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 05-27-17
By: Sam Weller - editor, and others
-
The Epic Crush of Genie Lo
- By: F. C. Yee
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The struggle to get into a top-tier college consumes 16-year-old Genie's every waking thought. But when she discovers she's a celestial spirit who's powerful enough to bash through the gates of heaven with her fists, her perfectionist existence is shattered. Enter Quentin, a transfer student from China whose tone-deaf assertiveness beguiles Genie to the brink of madness. Quentin nurtures Genie's bodacious transformation - sometimes gently, sometimes aggressively - as her sleepy suburb in the Bay Area comes under siege from hell spawn.
-
-
Enjoyed it more than I expected.
- By kevin on 07-27-21
By: F. C. Yee
-
Vita Nostra
- A Novel
- By: Sergey Dyachenko, Marina Dyachenko, Julia Meitov Hersey - translator
- Narrated by: Jessica Ball
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sasha Samokhina meets the mysterious Farit Kozhennikov under the most peculiar circumstances. The teenage girl is powerless to refuse when this strange and unusual man with an air of the sinister directs her to perform a task with potentially scandalous consequences. He rewards her effort with a strange golden coin. As the days progress, Sasha carries out other acts for which she receives more coins from Kozhennikov. As summer ends, her domineering mentor directs her to move to a remote village and use her gold to enter the Institute of Special Technologies.
-
-
Dark but beautiful
- By J. OBrennan on 11-19-18
By: Sergey Dyachenko, and others
-
Some Kind of Fairy Tale
- A Novel
- By: Graham Joyce
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty years ago, 16-year-old Tara Martin disappeared from a small town in the heart of England. Now, her sudden return and the mind-bending tale of where she’s been will challenge our very perception of the truth. For 20 years after Tara Martin disappeared, her parents and her brother, Peter, lived in denial of the grim fact that she was gone for good. Then suddenly on Christmas Day, the doorbell rings at her parents’ home, and there, dishevelled and slightly peculiar looking, Tara stands. It’s a miracle, but alarm bells are ringing for Peter. Tara’s story just does not add up.
-
-
Extremely Well Done
- By Amanda on 07-11-12
By: Graham Joyce
-
Superheroes
- By: Peter S. Beagle, Daryl Gregory, James Patrick Kelly, and others
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Joe Barrett, Christina Delaine, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Modern gods and goddesses, remote, revered - and like the pantheon of heroes and heroines of ancient myth - possessing great power tempered with flaws. Now, find within this anthology great tales by gifted and award-winning authors who move superheroes from the four-color panels of comic books to the fantastic pages of fiction, stories that will remind anyone who ever wanted to wear a cape or don a cowl of the extraordinary powers of the imagination!
-
-
Pretentious tired old concepts
- By BookofJoy on 12-29-14
By: Peter S. Beagle, and others
-
The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, Book 1)
- By: Maggie Stiefvater
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive. Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them - not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her. His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble. But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain.
-
-
Predictable Prep Boy Meets Witchy Girl
- By FanB14 on 01-29-13
-
The Bone Clocks
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: Jessica Ball, Leon Williams, Colin Mace, and others
- Length: 24 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following a scalding row with her mother, 15-year-old Holly Sykes slams the door on her old life. But Holly is no typical teenage runaway: A sensitive child once contacted by voices she knew only as "the radio people," Holly is a lightning rod for psychic phenomena. Now, as she wanders deeper into the English countryside, visions and coincidences reorder her reality until they assume the aura of a nightmare brought to life.
-
-
Not Short Listed, This Time
- By Mel on 09-23-14
By: David Mitchell
-
The American Girl
- A Novel
- By: Kate Horsley
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Nan McNamara
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a quiet summer morning, 17-year-old American exchange student Quinn Perkins stumbles out of the woods near the small French town of St. Roch. She is barefoot, bloodied, and unable to say what has happened to her; Quinn's appearance creates quite a stir, especially since the Blavettes - the French family with whom she's been staying - have mysteriously disappeared. Now the media, and everyone in the idyllic village, are wondering if the American girl had anything to do with her host family's disappearance.
-
-
Oh well...
- By Leigh on 08-10-16
By: Kate Horsley
-
Dear Amy
- By: Helen Callaghan
- Narrated by: Michelle Ford
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Margot Lewis is a teacher at an exclusive high school in the English university town of Cambridge. In her spare time, she writes an advice column, "Dear Amy", for the local newspaper. When one of Margot's students, 15-year-old Katie, disappears, the school and the town fear the worst. And then Margot gets a "Dear Amy" letter unlike any of the ones she's received before. It's a desperate plea for rescue from a girl who says she is being held captive and in terrible danger - a girl called Bethan Avery, who was abducted from the local area 20 years ago and never found.
-
-
Stunning debut
- By Mystery Maven on 11-18-16
By: Helen Callaghan
-
The Arsonist
- By: Stephanie Oakes
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi, Morgan Hallett, Rachel Botchan
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this offering from Morris Award finalist Stephanie Oakes, three riveting points of view are woven together in a story that's part historical mystery, part contemporary coming-of-age, and completely unputdownable. When Molly gets a package leading her to Pepper, they're tasked with solving a decades-old mystery: find out who killed Ava back in 1989. Using Ava's diary for clues, Molly and Pepper realize there's more to her life - and death - than meets the eye. Someone is lying to them. And someone out there is guiding them along, desperate for answers.
-
-
Thrilling with wonderful characters
- By Emily Schneider on 11-29-20
By: Stephanie Oakes
-
The Last Time We Say Goodbye
- By: Cynthia Hand
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment. Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be. As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone--a text Tyler sent that could have changed everything.
-
-
Such sweet sorrow
- By Lesaly on 04-26-15
By: Cynthia Hand
-
A List of Cages
- By: Robin Roe
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead, Christopher Gebauer
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he's got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn't easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can't complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian - the foster brother he hasn't seen in five years.
-
-
Heart wrenching!
- By Heather Shaver on 02-28-18
By: Robin Roe
-
High Dive
- By: Jonathan Lee
- Narrated by: Doyle Gerard
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taking us inside one of the 20th century's most ambitious assassination attempts - "making history personal", as one character puts it - High Dive moves between the luxurious hospitality of a British tourist town and the troubled city of Belfast, Northern Ireland, at the height of the armed struggle between the Irish Republican Army and those loyal to the UK government.
-
-
Humor? Not Funny.
- By W Perry Hall on 04-10-16
By: Jonathan Lee
-
Bellweather Rhapsody
- By: Kate Racculia
- Narrated by: Jessica Almasy
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fifteen years ago, a murder/suicide in room 712 rocked the grand old Bellweather Hotel and the young bridesmaid who witnessed it. Now hundreds of high school musicians, including quiet bassoonist Rabbit Hatmaker and his brassy diva twin, Alice, have gathered in its cavernous, crumbling halls for the annual Statewide festival; the grown-up bridesmaid has returned to face her demons; and a snowstorm is forecast that will trap everyone on the grounds. Then one of the orchestra’s stars disappears—from room 712.
-
-
Fun and Perceptive Musical Mystery
- By Allyn Van Dusen on 07-31-14
By: Kate Racculia
-
Double Feature
- A Novel
- By: Owen King
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Unraveling the tumultuous, decades-spanning story of the Dolan family’s friends, lovers, and adversaries, Double Feature is about letting go of everything - regret, resentment, ambition, dignity, moving pictures, the dead - and taking it again from the top. Combining propulsive storytelling and mordant wit against the backdrop of indie filmmaking, Double Feature brims with a deep understanding of the trials of ambition and art, of relationships and life, and of our attempts to survive it all.
-
-
Worst book ever! Well maybe.
- By Randall on 08-11-17
By: Owen King
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Mark and the Void
- A Novel
- By: Paul Murray
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While marooned at his banking job in the bewilderingly damp and insular realm known as Ireland, Claude Martingale is approached by a down-on-his-luck author, Paul, looking for his next great subject. Claude finds that his life gets steadily more exciting under Paul's fictionalizing influence; he even falls in love with a beautiful waitress. But Paul's plan is not what it seems - and neither is Claude's employer, the Investment Bank of Torabundo, which swells through dodgy takeovers and derivatives trading until - well, you can probably guess how that shakes out.
-
-
Well read but frustrating story
- By Michael on 05-26-16
By: Paul Murray
-
The Bee Sting
- A Novel
- By: Paul Murray
- Narrated by: Heather O’Sullivan, Barry Fitzgerald, Beau Holland, and others
- Length: 26 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie’s once-lucrative car business is going under—but Dickie is spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife, Imelda, is selling off her jewelry on eBay and half-heartedly dodging the attention of fast-talking cattle farmer Big Mike, while their teenage daughter, Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge drink her way through her final exams. As for twelve-year-old PJ, he’s on the brink of running away.
-
-
Bone Clocks meets Jonathan Franzen
- By Cranson on 10-26-23
By: Paul Murray
-
The Black Snow
- A Novel
- By: Paul Lynch
- Narrated by: John Keating
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Donegal in the spring of 1945, a farmhand runs into a burning barn and does not come out alive. The farm's owner, Barnabas Kane, can only look on as his friend dies and all 43 of his cattle are destroyed in the blaze.
-
-
Lynch is a master of his craft
- By Amazon Customer on 02-04-17
By: Paul Lynch
-
Tuff
- A Novel
- By: Paul Beatty
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Weighing in at 320 pounds, Winston "Tuffy" Foshay, is an East Harlem denizen who breaks jaws and shoots dogs and dreams of millions from his idea, Cap'n Crunch: The Movie, starring Danny DeVito. His best friend is a disabled Muslim who wants to rob banks, his guiding light is an ex-hippie Asian woman who worked for Malcolm X, and his wife, Yolanda, he married from jail over the phone. Shrewdly comical as this dazzling novel is, it turns acerbically sublime when the frustrated Tuffy agrees to run for City Council.
-
-
High Larry Us!
- By Amazon Customer on 07-24-23
By: Paul Beatty
-
The Paying Guests
- By: Sarah Waters
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 21 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned; the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa, a large silent house now bereft of brothers, husband, and even servants, life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs. Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers.
-
-
Difference of Opinion
- By Mel on 12-17-14
By: Sarah Waters
-
Redeployment
- By: Phil Klay
- Narrated by: Craig Klein
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Phil Klay's Redeployment takes listeners to the frontlines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking us to understand what happened there, and what happened to the soldiers who returned. Interwoven with themes of brutality and faith, guilt and fear, helplessness and survival, the characters in these stories struggle to make meaning out of chaos. Redeployment has become a classic in the tradition of war writing. Across nations and continents, Klay sets in devastating relief the two worlds a soldier inhabits: One of extremes and one of loss.
-
-
A Must Read - Fantastic Heart Rendering Shorts
- By GH on 12-03-14
By: Phil Klay
-
The Mark and the Void
- A Novel
- By: Paul Murray
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While marooned at his banking job in the bewilderingly damp and insular realm known as Ireland, Claude Martingale is approached by a down-on-his-luck author, Paul, looking for his next great subject. Claude finds that his life gets steadily more exciting under Paul's fictionalizing influence; he even falls in love with a beautiful waitress. But Paul's plan is not what it seems - and neither is Claude's employer, the Investment Bank of Torabundo, which swells through dodgy takeovers and derivatives trading until - well, you can probably guess how that shakes out.
-
-
Well read but frustrating story
- By Michael on 05-26-16
By: Paul Murray
-
The Bee Sting
- A Novel
- By: Paul Murray
- Narrated by: Heather O’Sullivan, Barry Fitzgerald, Beau Holland, and others
- Length: 26 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie’s once-lucrative car business is going under—but Dickie is spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife, Imelda, is selling off her jewelry on eBay and half-heartedly dodging the attention of fast-talking cattle farmer Big Mike, while their teenage daughter, Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge drink her way through her final exams. As for twelve-year-old PJ, he’s on the brink of running away.
-
-
Bone Clocks meets Jonathan Franzen
- By Cranson on 10-26-23
By: Paul Murray
-
The Black Snow
- A Novel
- By: Paul Lynch
- Narrated by: John Keating
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Donegal in the spring of 1945, a farmhand runs into a burning barn and does not come out alive. The farm's owner, Barnabas Kane, can only look on as his friend dies and all 43 of his cattle are destroyed in the blaze.
-
-
Lynch is a master of his craft
- By Amazon Customer on 02-04-17
By: Paul Lynch
-
Tuff
- A Novel
- By: Paul Beatty
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Weighing in at 320 pounds, Winston "Tuffy" Foshay, is an East Harlem denizen who breaks jaws and shoots dogs and dreams of millions from his idea, Cap'n Crunch: The Movie, starring Danny DeVito. His best friend is a disabled Muslim who wants to rob banks, his guiding light is an ex-hippie Asian woman who worked for Malcolm X, and his wife, Yolanda, he married from jail over the phone. Shrewdly comical as this dazzling novel is, it turns acerbically sublime when the frustrated Tuffy agrees to run for City Council.
-
-
High Larry Us!
- By Amazon Customer on 07-24-23
By: Paul Beatty
-
The Paying Guests
- By: Sarah Waters
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 21 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned; the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa, a large silent house now bereft of brothers, husband, and even servants, life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs. Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers.
-
-
Difference of Opinion
- By Mel on 12-17-14
By: Sarah Waters
-
Redeployment
- By: Phil Klay
- Narrated by: Craig Klein
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Phil Klay's Redeployment takes listeners to the frontlines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking us to understand what happened there, and what happened to the soldiers who returned. Interwoven with themes of brutality and faith, guilt and fear, helplessness and survival, the characters in these stories struggle to make meaning out of chaos. Redeployment has become a classic in the tradition of war writing. Across nations and continents, Klay sets in devastating relief the two worlds a soldier inhabits: One of extremes and one of loss.
-
-
A Must Read - Fantastic Heart Rendering Shorts
- By GH on 12-03-14
By: Phil Klay
-
Quiet Dell
- A Novel
- By: Jayne Anne Phillips
- Narrated by: Tandy Cronyn
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of America's most accomplished and acclaimed fiction writers, a spectacularly riveting novel based on a real-life multiple murder by a con man who preyed on widows - a story that has haunted Jayne Anne Phillips for more than four decades. In Chicago in 1931, Asta Eicher, mother of three, is lonely and despairing, pressed for money after the sudden death of her husband. She begins to receive seductive letters from a chivalrous, elegant man named Harry Powers, who promises to cherish and protect her, ultimately to marry her and to care for her and her children. Weeks later, all four Eichers are dead.
-
-
Captures a bygone era but still relevant...
- By Julie on 10-18-13
-
The Canal Bridge
- A Novel of Ireland, Love, and the First World War
- By: Tom Phelan
- Narrated by: Paul Nugent
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1913, before there is a rumor of war in Europe, Matthias Wrenn and Con Hatchel, lifelong friends from Ballyrannel in the Irish midlands, decide to see the world at the expense of the king of England and join the British army. A year later, while en route to India, their troop ship is recalled and they soon find themselves in the European slaughterhouse that was World War I.
-
-
Beautiful, disturbing and unforgettable
- By Kathy on 05-25-16
By: Tom Phelan
-
The Good Lord Bird
- A Novel
- By: James McBride
- Narrated by: Michael Boatman
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of Deacon King Kong (an Oprah Book Club pick) and The Color of Water comes the story of a young boy born a slave who joins John Brown’s antislavery crusade - and who must pass as a girl to survive. Henry Shackleford is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1856 - a battleground between anti - and pro-slavery forces - when legendary abolitionist John Brown arrives. When an argument between Brown and Henry's master turns violent, Henry is forced to leave town.
-
-
Abolition Huck Finn arouses interest in history
- By Abram H on 12-13-13
By: James McBride
-
A Burning
- A Novel
- By: Megha Majumdar
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam, Priya Ayyar, Deepti Gupta, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jivan is a Muslim girl from the slums, determined to move up in life, who is accused of executing a terrorist attack on a train because of a careless comment on Facebook. PT Sir is an opportunistic gym teacher who hitches his aspirations to a right-wing political party and finds that his own ascent becomes linked to Jivan's fall. Lovely—an irresistible outcast whose exuberant voice and dreams of glory fill the novel with warmth and hope and humor—has the alibi that can set Jivan free, but it will cost her everything she holds dear.
-
-
Heartbreaking and Brilliantly Performed
- By David P on 07-28-20
By: Megha Majumdar
-
The Buddha in the Attic
- By: Julie Otsuka
- Narrated by: Samantha Quan, Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 3 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In eight incantatory sections, The Buddha in the Attic traces the extraordinary lives of young Japanese brides, from their arduous journey by boat, where they exchange photographs of their husbands, imagining uncertain futures in an unknown land; to their arrival in San Francisco and their tremulous first nights as new wives; to their backbreaking work picking fruit in the fields and scrubbing the floors of white women; to their struggles to master a new language and a new culture; to their experiences in childbirth, and then as mothers....
-
-
Fascinating topic, irritating writing style
- By Lydia on 08-26-11
By: Julie Otsuka
-
Wave
- A Memoir
- By: Sonali Deraniyagala
- Narrated by: Hannah Curtis
- Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the morning of December 26, 2004, on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, Sonali Deraniyagala lost her parents, her husband, and her two young sons in the tsunami she miraculously survived. In this brave and searingly frank memoir, she describes those first horrifying moments and her long journey since. She has written an engrossing, unsentimental, beautifully poised account: as she struggles through the first months following the tragedy, furiously clenched against a reality that she cannot face and cannot deny....
-
-
Tragic. Raw. Heart-Ripping!
- By CBlox on 03-19-13
-
Study for Obedience
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Bernstein
- Narrated by: Sarah Bernstein
- Length: 3 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A young woman moves from the place of her birth to the remote northern country of her forebears to be housekeeper to her brother, whose wife has recently left him. Soon after her arrival, a series of inexplicable events occurs - collective bovine hysteria; the demise of a ewe and her nearly born lamb; a local dog's phantom pregnancy; a potato blight. She notices that the local suspicion about incomers in general seems to be directed with some intensity at her and she senses a mounting threat that lies 'just beyond the garden gate.'
-
-
Took some time to come around, but I really appreciate this work
- By Amy G on 08-08-24
By: Sarah Bernstein
-
A Fraction of the Whole
- By: Steve Toltz
- Narrated by: Colin McPhillamy, Craig Baldwin
- Length: 25 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stewing in an Australian prison, Jasper Dean reflects on his relationship with his dead father and recounts the many zany adventures they shared together.
-
-
A Funny and Thought-provoking Tale of Human Nature
- By Asha Ember on 01-27-10
By: Steve Toltz
-
Say Her Name
- By: Francisco Goldman
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Celebrated novelist Francisco Goldman married a beautiful young writer named Aura Estrada in a romantic Mexican hacienda in the summer of 2005. The month before their second anniversary, during a long-awaited holiday, Aura broke her neck while body-surfing. Francisco, blamed for Aura’s death by her family and blaming himself, wanted to die, too.
-
-
Say her name...but not that way
- By Pamela Harvey on 06-18-11
-
The Flame Alphabet
- By: Ben Marcus
- Narrated by: Andy Paris
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Flame Alphabet, language is toxic to everyone but children. For adults this means no speaking, no reading, no writing, no listening—at least not without severe allergic reaction, depression or crippling pain.
-
-
A Brilliant Concept, Executed to Perfection
- By Nate on 03-09-12
By: Ben Marcus
-
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
- A Novel
- By: Anthony Marra
- Narrated by: Colette Whitaker
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anthony Marra transports us to a snow-covered village in Chechnya, where eight-year-old Havaa watches from the woods as Russian soldiers abduct her father in the middle of the night, accusing him of aiding Chechen rebels. Across the road their lifelong neighbor and family friend Akhmed has also been watching, fearing the worst when the soldiers set fire to Havaa’s house. But when he finds her hiding in the forest with a strange blue suitcase, he makes a decision that will forever change their lives. He will seek refuge at the abandoned hospital where the sole remaining doctor, Sonja Rabina, treats the wounded.
-
-
A Conflicted Response
- By Cariola on 09-24-13
By: Anthony Marra
-
Feel Free
- Essays
- By: Zadie Smith
- Narrated by: Nikki Amuka-Bird
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since she burst spectacularly into view with her debut novel almost two decades ago, Zadie Smith has established herself not just as one of the world's preeminent fiction writers but also a brilliant and singular essayist. She contributes regularly to The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books on a range of subjects, and each piece of hers is a literary event in its own right.
-
-
great material, thoroughly brilliant narration
- By Mary E. Magin on 03-09-18
By: Zadie Smith
What listeners say about Skippy Dies
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Lisa
- 03-17-11
I was skeptical...
as I often am when a book is universally hailed as groundbreaking, or a must-read. I humbly admit that this book earned every accolade it received. The story itself unfolds with multiple story arcs that slowly and artfully come together. The overarching story is so touching because it speaks to that vulnerable, completely alone and insecure person in all of us...whether we think we have outgrown those aspects of our lives or not. I was moved more by this book than by nearly any other I have read (listened to?).
As for the audio presentation. Performed by a cast, every voice was distinct and easily discernible and carried the story with momentum. I cannot recommend this audio purchase highly enough!!!
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
-
Performance
-
Story
- Boe
- 07-18-12
Realistic
I was most struck by how realistic this whole story felt. The descent into drug use and abuse. The compounding of one tragic factor on top of another. The stories of the people who should have known that there was a problem but missed it, wrapped-up in their own lives.
It is a lesson to be learned, a wake-up call.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Emily Flury
- 05-12-11
A novel filled with different themes, too many
This book took forever for me to get through. I almost didn't finish but I'm glad that I did. I agree with other reviews that state that this novel is very reminiscent of Dead Poet's Society. The author painted a very grim picture of boarding schools as this novel works under the premise that the majority of teenage boys and girls do drugs of all kinds, have sex, and hate most adults. There were parts of this novel that I enjoyed and others that were too weird to really make sense within the novel's context. Instead of a movie, this novel would do well as a TV show where it could be broken up into segments. Some of the segments would be laugh out loud funny and some would be too horrible too imagine, perhaps not unlike Parenthood.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- T
- 11-08-11
Get the abridged version
Get the abridged version unless you like hours of character development. Part three makes the whole story come together in an enthralling way but the lead up was a struggle for me to get through. Plot is spread a little too thin to keep my interest but I was glad I endured the end. Some perverse content may be a turn off for the morally staunch.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Karen
- 10-08-11
Sense of humor required!
Although I can understand why this book may be disturbing to some people, I think that it is its point, isn't it? If you are willing to read (or listen) to Skippy Dies as a comedy, you will laugh at absurdity but you will also be forced to confront ugly truth. Isn't that humor at its best? Paul Murray's neatly planned and resolved plot and his vernacular dialogue are nothing less than Shakespearean. I loved the many voices narrating the book; I loved the book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ellen
- 04-07-24
This book was mesmerizing!
I am so glad this book was so long as it gave me the opportunity to enjoy it longer. I must start by also saying that this book is not for everyone due to its themes and Paul Murray's writing style (which I absolutely love). This book is very funny, poignant, beautiful, haunting and surprising. Murray is a true genius at bringing his characters to life and getting you to feel emotionally involved in their outcome. This is a messy book so don't expect everything to wrap up in a neat package.
I must also comment on the 3 wishes song (no spoilers). I loved that song and it keeps going around in my head. I thought it was a real pop song (maybe Murray missed his calling).
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jamanosa
- 10-08-24
Simply fantastic.
I felt like I went to a theater production. Read to perfection by everyone without exception. Not a fan of Bee Sting-- this book was promised to be so much better and it was. Really great. Sad it's over.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tina
- 10-02-12
Elegant symphony of the cosmos and angst
Would you consider the audio edition of Skippy Dies to be better than the print version?
They are both great. I can't imagine the narrator doing a better job, though.
What did you like best about this story?
The emotional impact.
Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Not sure who's who, but everyone did a great job.
Who was the most memorable character of Skippy Dies and why?
Skippy due to the tragedy of his circumstances and the ability to connect to his character.
Any additional comments?
Christmas Canon (after Pachelbel’s Canon)
-Trans-Siberian Orchestra
"Life has its own hidden forces which you can only discover by living."
-Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher (1813 - 1855)
"Maybe instead of strings it’s stories things are made of, an infinite number of tiny vibrating stories; once upon a time they all were part of one big giant superstory, except it got broken up into a jillion different pieces, that’s why no story on its own makes any sense, and so what you have to do in a life is try and weave it back together,…"
-Skippy Dies
Angst, that amorphous feeling of dread, has its balance in tragicomedy and metaphysical hope. Teenage angst, most of all, is defining in its shattering of illusion, its realization that the world is only grey, and that there is no real answer. In this thoroughly entertaining and achingly poignant book, Paul Murray managed to weave an elegant allegorical fabric of the cosmos in which the mathematical system of classical music is the perfect mode of communication. Yet this quantum world is heartbreakingly chaotic in the macro world of students in a prep school, its faculty members and the employees of a donut shop. It’s a multiverse where particles connects and vibrates in a symphonic movement of banality and hope. Highlighted are the painful lives of the troubled Daniel "Skippy" Juster, the wishful Ruprecht Van Doren, and the regretful Howard.
The story takes place in Seabrook, a Dublin private school composed of hormonal teenage boys, in particular a group of 14-year-old friends. This world of privileged children and haunted faculty members is full of vivid characterization and dark humor, with the sex-obsessed Mario proudly touting his three-year-old unused lucky condom, Ruprecht’s foibles in his search for a way to the other universe, and male infatuations with schoolgirl Lori and Geography substitute teacher Aurelia McIntyre. There is also a villain in the form of drug dealer Carl, Skippy’s sociopathic rival for Lori. Underlying this symphonic movement with its variation of voices is the poignant bass of the lost Skippy. Murray masterfully integrates a large number of point of views, from the students to the employees of the donut shop, seamlessly moving from third person to first person, from trite musings to deep insight, and from humorous to tragic. All this with a curious mixture of humor, tragedy and hope.
The personal stories are not only about teenage angst, but also about the Seabrook faculty members. The adult Seabrook staff members are no less lost in their navigation through life. "Howard the Coward" Fallon, the history teacher, drifts through a life of disappointments; Gregory L. Costigan, the economics teacher and acting Principal, is obsessed with the business side of running the school; Father Jerome Green, the scary French teacher atoning for a past sin, is an overachiever of altruistic accomplishments; and Tom Roche, former star athlete and swim coach, has a life that is tragically intertwined with Howard’s disappointments.
The plot starts out with the big bang, the death of Daniel "Skippy" Juster after he scrawled with donut jelly, "TELL LORI", for Ruprecht to tell Lori that he loves her. Death and tragic love sets the tone for a story that accelerates into a revelation of everyone’s imperfect universe. In this ever changing and interacting donut shaped universe, things manifest in time and goes back into the fold. We are swept up in this canon of unrequited loves, loneliness in a crowd, and the tortured decision to tow the line or be true to oneself.
Skippy Dies is a Möbius strip with the teenage Skippy’s story balancing the adult Howard’s story. Both are tainted by a defining shaming moment that would cause them to badly cope with the emotional impact, Skippy through a numbing drug haze, Howard through living his life in safe banality, avoiding confrontation. Both Skippy and Howard endured distracting infatuation with unattainable princesses. Besides risking his fragile ego, Skippy risks a dangerous encounter with Carl, his rival for Lori’s affections. Howard risks the safety of his mundane relationship with his girlfriend and his stale job as a history teacher to follow the giddiness of an adolescent infatuation with Aurelia. For all their bravery in trying to attain their princesses, the failed knights suffer defeat in a world of amorphous grey dragons that can never be lanced and defeated. Whereas Skippy managed to escape to the other universe via death, Howard lives on in this universe facing the repercussions of a life disappointing himself and others. Both tainted knights who care too much in an uncaring world ultimately were destroyed by the amorphous dragon.
Both Skippy and Howard’s cowardice reverberated through others. After Skippy’s self-destruction, Ruprecht’s grief turned into obsession with finding the portal into another universe that has the answers. Lori, Skippy’s love interest, aim to slowly disappear from this universe. In a further demonstration of the entanglement of vibrating strings, Howard’s cowardice reverberated through time affecting Skippy in the form of the tragic ex-superstar Tom. Murray deftly creates a believably surrealistic effect that combines a quantum world with the macro world, as time slows for the drugged Skippy as he muses how the painkillers can help him in his travel to another universe. After Skippy made his successful journey through the black hole of death, Ruprecht’s search for a way to the other universe grew to a desperate intensity that results in a humorous adventure as the boys break into the girl’s school to seek the perfect point of entry to the other universe. What emerges is a hilarious sequence that ends with Rupert and his quartet sending a message to Skippy via the aching hybrid of the hopeful Pachelbel’s Canon and the idealistic BETHani song,
"If I had three wishes I would give away two,
Cos I only need one, cos I only want you."
Split into four movements, Hopeland, Heartland, Ghostland, and Afterland, Skippy Dies is a verbal symphony about the need to make sense of a chaotic world in which there is no clear good or bad, the vortex of change is unceasing, and nobody wins. What could be a Bildungsroman, full of laughable awkward moments of the foibles of self-discovery, ends up giving the impression that there is no answer or panacea to life’s difficulty. It is about self-delusion, the lifting of the veils of delusion, and the self-preserving need to go back into the delusional world. Sadly, it is also about the destruction of those who cannot hang on to the iron armor of illusion.
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
-
Performance
-
Story
- Adam Johnson
- 04-28-15
Classic
Amazing story and performances They need this team to do other books. Highly enjoyable and maybe we need a follow up?
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
- Kevin
- 05-03-11
great listen
As a teacher in an all boys Catholic school, I felt very much at home with so many of the Characters, Paul Murray delightfully captures the voice of the young freshmen, the faculty, administrators and the parents. His universe is void of cheap sentimentality. His portrayal of the Church is fair and his sense of the "catholic imagination" is strong! His story reminds me of the richness of a medieval tapestry in its complexity and beauty. I laughed and cried my way to work for over a week. While I lost touch with current events - I am better for spending time in Murray's story!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful