The Opposite of Fate
Memories of a Writing Life
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
The Opposite of Fate
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Amy Tan
-
By:
-
Amy Tan
About this listen
Delve into the stories from Amy Tan's life that inspired best-selling novels like The Joy Luck Club and The Valley of Amazement.
Amy Tan has touched millions of people with haunting and sympathetic novels of cultural complexity and profound empathy. With the same spirit and humor that characterize her acclaimed novels, she now shares her insight into her own life and how she escaped the curses of her past to make a future of her own. She takes us on a journey from her childhood of tragedy and comedy to the present day and her arrival as one of the world's best-loved novelists. Whether recalling arguments with her mother in suburban California or introducing us to the ghosts that inhabit her computer, The Opposite of Fate offers vivid portraits of choices, attitudes, charms, and luck in action - a refreshing antidote to the world-weariness and uncertainties we all face today.
©2003 Amy Tan (P)2016 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Valley of Amazement
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu, Joyce Bean, Amy Tan
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,976
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,552
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,574
Shanghai, 1912. Violet Minturn is the privileged daughter of the American madam of the city's most exclusive courtesan house. But when the Ching dynasty is overturned, Violet is separated from her mother in a cruel act of chicanery and forced to become a "virgin courtesan." Half-Chinese and half-American, Violet grapples with her place in the worlds of East and West - until she is able to merge her two halves, empowering her to become a shrewd courtesan who excels in the business of seduction and illusion, though she still struggles to understand who she is.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Just could NOT get past the ugliness
- By Pamela J on 11-25-13
By: Amy Tan
-
Rules for Virgins
- Wherein Magic Gourd Advises Young Violet on How to Become a Popular Courtesan While Avoiding Cheapskates, False Love, and Suicide
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 1 hr and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 160
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 137
Amy Tan takes us deep into the illicit world of 1912 Shanghai, where beautiful courtesans mercilessly compete for the patronage of wealthy gentlemen. For the women, the contest is deadly serious, a perilous game of economic survival that, if played well, can set them up for life as mistresses of the rich and prominent. There is no room for error, however: Erotic power is hard to achieve and harder to maintain, especially in the loftiest social circles. Enter veteran seducer, Magic Gourd, formerly one of Shanghai’s “Top Ten Beauties” and now the advisor and attendant of Violet, an aspiring but inexperienced courtesan.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it - oh so briefly!
- By Quiltrobin on 11-14-13
By: Amy Tan
-
Memoirs of a Geisha
- By: Arthur Golden
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9,605
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,299
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,324
In a voice both haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri describes her life as a geisha. Taken from her home at the age of nine, she is sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Witness her transformation as you enter a world where appearances are paramount, virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder, women beguile powerful men, and love is scorned as illusion.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Perfect ---- in every way
- By Amanda on 02-08-06
By: Arthur Golden
-
The Year of Magical Thinking
- By: Joan Didion
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4,454
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,161
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,172
"Life changes fast....You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends." These were among the first words Joan Didion wrote in January 2004. Her daughter was lying unconscious in an intensive care unit, a victim of pneumonia and septic shock. Her husband, John Gregory Dunne, was dead. The night before New Year's Eve, while they were sitting down to dinner, he suffered a massive and fatal coronary. The two had lived and worked side by side for nearly 40 years.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book to Read, but I didn’t like it
- By Michael on 05-08-15
By: Joan Didion
-
On Writers and Writing
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Margaret Atwood
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 238
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 209
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 208
What is the role of the writer? Prophet? High priest of art? Court jester? Or witness to the real world? Looking back on her own childhood and writing career, Margaret Atwood examines the metaphors which writers of fiction and poetry have used to explain - or excuse! - their activities, looking at what costumes they have assumed, what roles they have chosen to play. In her final chapter she takes up the challenge of the title: if a writer is to be seen as "gifted", who is doing the giving and what are the terms of the gift?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
l just love Margaret Atwood.
- By Brandy Ringleb on 01-11-21
By: Margaret Atwood
-
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
- A Novel
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Janet Song
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,020
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,056
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,055
Lily is haunted by memories of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower and asks the gods for forgiveness.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it!
- By Pat on 10-03-05
By: Lisa See
-
The Valley of Amazement
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu, Joyce Bean, Amy Tan
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,976
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,552
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,574
Shanghai, 1912. Violet Minturn is the privileged daughter of the American madam of the city's most exclusive courtesan house. But when the Ching dynasty is overturned, Violet is separated from her mother in a cruel act of chicanery and forced to become a "virgin courtesan." Half-Chinese and half-American, Violet grapples with her place in the worlds of East and West - until she is able to merge her two halves, empowering her to become a shrewd courtesan who excels in the business of seduction and illusion, though she still struggles to understand who she is.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Just could NOT get past the ugliness
- By Pamela J on 11-25-13
By: Amy Tan
-
Rules for Virgins
- Wherein Magic Gourd Advises Young Violet on How to Become a Popular Courtesan While Avoiding Cheapskates, False Love, and Suicide
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 1 hr and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 160
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 137
Amy Tan takes us deep into the illicit world of 1912 Shanghai, where beautiful courtesans mercilessly compete for the patronage of wealthy gentlemen. For the women, the contest is deadly serious, a perilous game of economic survival that, if played well, can set them up for life as mistresses of the rich and prominent. There is no room for error, however: Erotic power is hard to achieve and harder to maintain, especially in the loftiest social circles. Enter veteran seducer, Magic Gourd, formerly one of Shanghai’s “Top Ten Beauties” and now the advisor and attendant of Violet, an aspiring but inexperienced courtesan.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it - oh so briefly!
- By Quiltrobin on 11-14-13
By: Amy Tan
-
Memoirs of a Geisha
- By: Arthur Golden
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9,605
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,299
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,324
In a voice both haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri describes her life as a geisha. Taken from her home at the age of nine, she is sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Witness her transformation as you enter a world where appearances are paramount, virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder, women beguile powerful men, and love is scorned as illusion.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Perfect ---- in every way
- By Amanda on 02-08-06
By: Arthur Golden
-
The Year of Magical Thinking
- By: Joan Didion
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4,454
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,161
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,172
"Life changes fast....You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends." These were among the first words Joan Didion wrote in January 2004. Her daughter was lying unconscious in an intensive care unit, a victim of pneumonia and septic shock. Her husband, John Gregory Dunne, was dead. The night before New Year's Eve, while they were sitting down to dinner, he suffered a massive and fatal coronary. The two had lived and worked side by side for nearly 40 years.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book to Read, but I didn’t like it
- By Michael on 05-08-15
By: Joan Didion
-
On Writers and Writing
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Margaret Atwood
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 238
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 209
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 208
What is the role of the writer? Prophet? High priest of art? Court jester? Or witness to the real world? Looking back on her own childhood and writing career, Margaret Atwood examines the metaphors which writers of fiction and poetry have used to explain - or excuse! - their activities, looking at what costumes they have assumed, what roles they have chosen to play. In her final chapter she takes up the challenge of the title: if a writer is to be seen as "gifted", who is doing the giving and what are the terms of the gift?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
l just love Margaret Atwood.
- By Brandy Ringleb on 01-11-21
By: Margaret Atwood
-
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
- A Novel
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Janet Song
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,020
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,056
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,055
Lily is haunted by memories of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower and asks the gods for forgiveness.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it!
- By Pat on 10-03-05
By: Lisa See
-
Pandora's Jar
- Women in the Greek Myths
- By: Natalie Haynes
- Narrated by: Natalie Haynes
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 883
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 756
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 755
The tellers of Greek myths—historically men—have routinely sidelined the female characters. When they do take a larger role, women are often portrayed as monstrous, vengeful or just plain evil—like Pandora, the woman of eternal scorn and damnation whose curiosity is tasked with causing all the world’s suffering and wickedness when she opened that forbidden box. But, as Natalie Haynes reveals, in ancient Greek myths there was no box. It was a jar . . . which is far more likely to tip over.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The Golden Age Continues
- By Stefan Filipovits on 03-29-22
By: Natalie Haynes
-
Novelist as a Vocation
- By: Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel - translator, Ted Goossen - translator
- Narrated by: Kotaro Watanabe
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 165
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 126
In this engaging book, the internationally best-selling author and famously private writer Haruki Murakami shares with listeners his thoughts on the role of the novel in our society; his own origins as a writer; and his musings on the sparks of creativity that inspire other writers, artists, and musicians.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Love Murakami - Struggled with this Narrator
- By Harry Bartle on 11-30-22
By: Haruki Murakami, and others
-
Too Close to the Falls
- A Memoir
- By: Catherine Gildiner
- Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 142
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 122
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 125
Welcome to the childhood of Catherine McClure Gildiner. It is the middle of the 1950s in Lewiston, New York, a small and sleepy American town very near Niagara Falls. No one is divorced. Mothers wear high heels to the beauty salon and children pop Pez candy and swing from vines over a local gorge. But at the tender age of four, it becomes clear to her Cathy's parents that their rambunctious daughter is no ordinary child and they soon put her "to work" at her father's pharmacy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant and funny and touching.
- By Kindle Customer on 11-07-19
-
Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t
- And Other Tough-Love Truths to Make You a Better Writer
- By: Steven Pressfield
- Narrated by: Steven Pressfield
- Length: 3 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 682
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 564
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 559
There's a mantra real writers know but wannabe writers don’t. And the secret phrase is this: "Nobody wants to read your shit." Recognizing this painful truth is the first step in the writer's transformation from amateur to professional.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
How to get over the mediocre part of yourself
- By RICHARD on 11-24-18
-
These Precious Days
- Essays
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,898
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,667
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,659
“Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Heartfelt Essays, Beautifully Performed
- By Brent Holcomb on 11-23-21
By: Ann Patchett
-
The Family Chao
- By: Lan Samantha Chang
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 399
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 349
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 348
The residents of Haven, Wisconsin, have dined on the Fine Chao Restaurant’s delicious Americanized Chinese food for 35 years, happy to ignore any unsavory whispers about the family owners. But when brash, charismatic, and tyrannical patriarch Leo Chao is found dead - presumed murdered - his sons discover that they’ve drawn the exacting gaze of the entire town.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An American Family Saga of Love and Loyalty
- By Mary Tsao on 04-14-22
-
Fly Girl
- A Memoir
- By: Ann Hood
- Narrated by: Ann Hood
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 719
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 635
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 634
In 1978, in the tailwind of the golden age of air travel, flight attendants were the epitome of glamor and sophistication. Fresh out of college and hungry to experience the world―and maybe, one day, write about it―Ann Hood joined their ranks. After a grueling job search, Hood survived TWA’s rigorous Breech Training Academy and learned to evacuate seven kinds of aircraft, deliver a baby, mix proper cocktails, administer oxygen, and stay calm no matter what the situation.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
We’ll written, not what I expected
- By Jonathan on 07-07-22
By: Ann Hood
-
Storyworthy
- Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling
- By: Matthew Dicks, Dan Kennedy - foreword
- Narrated by: Matthew Dicks, John Glouchevitch
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,253
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,097
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,094
A five-time Moth GrandSLAM winner and bestselling novelist shows how to tell a great story - and why doing so matters. Whether we realize it or not, we are always telling stories. On a first date or job interview, at a sales presentation or therapy appointment, with family or friends, we are constantly narrating events and interpreting emotions and actions. In this compelling book, storyteller extraordinaire Matthew Dicks presents wonderfully straightforward and engaging tips and techniques for constructing, telling, and polishing stories that will hold the attention of your audience (no matter how big or small).
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
not many tips on how to deliver a good story
- By polaris on 08-22-19
By: Matthew Dicks, and others
-
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,718
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,537
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,520
Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder and Bel Canto examines her deepest commitments: to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband in This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Together, these essays, previously published in The Atlantic, Harper, Vogue, and The Washington Post, form a resonant portrait of a life lived with loyalty and with love.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Entertaining, engrossing, and elucidative essays
- By Bonny on 01-07-14
By: Ann Patchett
-
We Learn Nothing
- Essays
- By: Tim Kreider
- Narrated by: Tim Kreider
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,915
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,631
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,622
In We Learn Nothing, satirical cartoonist Tim Kreider turns his funny, brutally honest eye to the dark truths of the human condition, asking big questions about human-sized problems: What if you survive a brush with death and it doesn't change you? Why do we fall in love with people we don't even like? How do you react when someone you've known for years unexpectedly changes genders?
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Shouldn't have been written but glad it was
- By Warren Taryle on 05-08-15
By: Tim Kreider
-
The Unspeakable
- And Other Subjects of Discussion
- By: Meghan Daum
- Narrated by: Meghan Daum
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 120
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 102
It's a report tempered by hard times. In "Matricide", Daum unflinchingly describes a parent's death and the uncomfortable emotions it provokes; and in "Diary of a Coma" she relates her own journey to the twilight of the mind. But Daum also operates in a comic register. With perfect precision, she reveals the absurdities of the marriage-industrial complex, of the New Age dating market, and of the peculiar habits of the young and digital.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Complaining about her dead mom.
- By Erik Hermansen on 11-23-14
By: Meghan Daum
-
The Last Love Song
- A Biography of Joan Didion
- By: Tracy Daugherty
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 26 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
Joan Didion lived a life in the public and private eye with her late husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, whom she met while the two were working in New York City, when Didion was at Vogue and Dunne was writing for Time. They became wildly successful writing partners when they moved to Los Angeles and cowrote screenplays and adaptations together. Didion is well known for her literary journalistic style in both fiction and nonfiction.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Riveted for 1591 miles
- By Kaysi12 on 04-11-16
By: Tracy Daugherty
Related to this topic
-
Where the Past Begins
- A Writer's Memoir
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 162
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 158
Moving from her childhood in Oakland and growing up with her Chinese parents through her success as a novelist, Amy Tan delves into her creative interests in music, the paralysis of beginning a new project, journal writing, and travelling. Where the Past Begins chronicles the making of a writer. With characteristic humor and poignant observation, Tan weaves a nontraditional introspective narrative that is as complex and vibrant as this beloved American novelist's fiction.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narration Issues
- By Sara on 12-14-17
By: Amy Tan
-
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,718
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,537
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,520
Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder and Bel Canto examines her deepest commitments: to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband in This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Together, these essays, previously published in The Atlantic, Harper, Vogue, and The Washington Post, form a resonant portrait of a life lived with loyalty and with love.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Entertaining, engrossing, and elucidative essays
- By Bonny on 01-07-14
By: Ann Patchett
-
The Unspeakable
- And Other Subjects of Discussion
- By: Meghan Daum
- Narrated by: Meghan Daum
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 120
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 102
It's a report tempered by hard times. In "Matricide", Daum unflinchingly describes a parent's death and the uncomfortable emotions it provokes; and in "Diary of a Coma" she relates her own journey to the twilight of the mind. But Daum also operates in a comic register. With perfect precision, she reveals the absurdities of the marriage-industrial complex, of the New Age dating market, and of the peculiar habits of the young and digital.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Complaining about her dead mom.
- By Erik Hermansen on 11-23-14
By: Meghan Daum
-
The Last Love Song
- A Biography of Joan Didion
- By: Tracy Daugherty
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 26 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
Joan Didion lived a life in the public and private eye with her late husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, whom she met while the two were working in New York City, when Didion was at Vogue and Dunne was writing for Time. They became wildly successful writing partners when they moved to Los Angeles and cowrote screenplays and adaptations together. Didion is well known for her literary journalistic style in both fiction and nonfiction.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Riveted for 1591 miles
- By Kaysi12 on 04-11-16
By: Tracy Daugherty
-
Trying to Save Piggy Sneed
- By: John Irving
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 296
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 245
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 244
Trying to Save Piggy Sneed contains a dozen short works by John Irving, beginning with three memoirs, including an account of Mr. Irving’s dinner with President Ronald Reagan at the White House. The longest of the memoirs, The Imaginary Girlfriend,” is the core of this collection.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Unabridged?
- By K. Stiffler on 02-11-22
By: John Irving
-
My Life with Bob
- Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues
- By: Pamela Paul
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens, Pamela Paul
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 69
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 63
Pamela Paul has kept a single book by her side for 28 years - carried throughout high school and college, hauled from Paris to London to Thailand, from job to job, safely packed away and then carefully removed from apartment to house to its current perch on a shelf over her desk - reliable if frayed, anonymous-looking yet deeply personal. This book has a name: Bob. Bob is Paul's Book of Books, a journal that records every book she's ever read.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An uncanny mirror and a celebration of book love
- By Cherilyn Parsons on 07-28-19
By: Pamela Paul
-
Where the Past Begins
- A Writer's Memoir
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 162
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 158
Moving from her childhood in Oakland and growing up with her Chinese parents through her success as a novelist, Amy Tan delves into her creative interests in music, the paralysis of beginning a new project, journal writing, and travelling. Where the Past Begins chronicles the making of a writer. With characteristic humor and poignant observation, Tan weaves a nontraditional introspective narrative that is as complex and vibrant as this beloved American novelist's fiction.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narration Issues
- By Sara on 12-14-17
By: Amy Tan
-
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,718
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,537
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,520
Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder and Bel Canto examines her deepest commitments: to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband in This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Together, these essays, previously published in The Atlantic, Harper, Vogue, and The Washington Post, form a resonant portrait of a life lived with loyalty and with love.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Entertaining, engrossing, and elucidative essays
- By Bonny on 01-07-14
By: Ann Patchett
-
The Unspeakable
- And Other Subjects of Discussion
- By: Meghan Daum
- Narrated by: Meghan Daum
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 120
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 102
It's a report tempered by hard times. In "Matricide", Daum unflinchingly describes a parent's death and the uncomfortable emotions it provokes; and in "Diary of a Coma" she relates her own journey to the twilight of the mind. But Daum also operates in a comic register. With perfect precision, she reveals the absurdities of the marriage-industrial complex, of the New Age dating market, and of the peculiar habits of the young and digital.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Complaining about her dead mom.
- By Erik Hermansen on 11-23-14
By: Meghan Daum
-
The Last Love Song
- A Biography of Joan Didion
- By: Tracy Daugherty
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 26 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
Joan Didion lived a life in the public and private eye with her late husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, whom she met while the two were working in New York City, when Didion was at Vogue and Dunne was writing for Time. They became wildly successful writing partners when they moved to Los Angeles and cowrote screenplays and adaptations together. Didion is well known for her literary journalistic style in both fiction and nonfiction.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Riveted for 1591 miles
- By Kaysi12 on 04-11-16
By: Tracy Daugherty
-
Trying to Save Piggy Sneed
- By: John Irving
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 296
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 245
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 244
Trying to Save Piggy Sneed contains a dozen short works by John Irving, beginning with three memoirs, including an account of Mr. Irving’s dinner with President Ronald Reagan at the White House. The longest of the memoirs, The Imaginary Girlfriend,” is the core of this collection.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Unabridged?
- By K. Stiffler on 02-11-22
By: John Irving
-
My Life with Bob
- Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues
- By: Pamela Paul
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens, Pamela Paul
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 69
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 63
Pamela Paul has kept a single book by her side for 28 years - carried throughout high school and college, hauled from Paris to London to Thailand, from job to job, safely packed away and then carefully removed from apartment to house to its current perch on a shelf over her desk - reliable if frayed, anonymous-looking yet deeply personal. This book has a name: Bob. Bob is Paul's Book of Books, a journal that records every book she's ever read.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An uncanny mirror and a celebration of book love
- By Cherilyn Parsons on 07-28-19
By: Pamela Paul
-
And So It Goes
- Kurt Vonnegut: A Life
- By: Charles J. Shields
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 79
New York Times best-selling author and biographer Charles J. Shields crafts this fascinating portrait of literary icon Kurt Vonnegut. The first authorized biography of the influential American writer, And So It Goes examines Vonnegut’s life, from his childhood to his death in 2007, and explores how the author changed the conversation of American literature.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Probably only for die hard Vonnegut fans
- By Watery M on 12-22-12
-
The Memoir Project
- A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text For Writing & Life
- By: Marion Roach Smith
- Narrated by: Marion Roach Smith
- Length: 3 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 195
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 167
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 165
Whether or not one has lived an exceptional or dramatic life, we inherently understand that writing memoir—whether it’s a book, blog, or just a letter to a child - is the single greatest portal to self-examination. Stop treading water in writing exercises or hiding behind “writer’s block” and learn how to write with intent. Marion Roach Smith’s disarmingly frank but wildly fun tactics offer you simple and effective guidelines that work. Your legacy beings now.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
amazing what you can learn from brevity
- By Schwartz-Burrill on 09-15-11
-
Shanda
- A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy
- By: Letty Cottin Pogrebin
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
The word "shanda" is defined as shame or disgrace in Yiddish. This book, Shanda, tells the story of three generations of complicated, intense twentieth-century Jews for whom the desire to fit in and the fear of public humiliation either drove their aspirations or crushed their spirit. In her deeply engaging, astonishingly candid memoir, author and activist Letty Cottin Pogrebin exposes the fiercely-guarded lies and intricate cover-ups woven by dozens of members of her extended family.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully Written!
- By Adele Aron Greenspun on 01-12-23
-
Reading My Father
- A Memoir
- By: Alexandra Styron
- Narrated by: Alexandra Styron
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 68
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 42
Alexandra Styron's parents—the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Sophie’s Choice and his political activist wife, Rose—were, for half a century, leading players on the world’s cultural stage. Alexandra was raised under both the halo of her father’s brilliance and the long shadow of his troubled mind. Reading My Father portrays the epic sweep of an American artist’s life. It is also a tale of filial love, beautifully written with humor, compassion, and grace.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
William Styron Ranks...
- By Douglas on 12-22-13
By: Alexandra Styron
-
Reading Like a Writer
- By: Francine Prose
- Narrated by: Nanette Savard
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 233
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 150
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 145
In her entertaining and edifying New York Times bestseller, acclaimed author Francine Prose invites you to sit by her side and take a guided tour of the tools and the tricks of the masters and discover why their work has endured. Written with passion, humor, and wisdom, Reading Like a Writer will inspire listeners to return to literature with a fresh eye and an eager heart.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Practical, literate, generous
- By Gare on 04-13-08
By: Francine Prose
-
Daring
- My Passages - A Memoir
- By: Gail Sheehy
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
Candid, insightful, and powerful, Daring: My Passages is the story of the unconventional life of a writer who dared - to walk New York City streets with hookers and pimps to expose violent prostitution; to march with civil rights protesters in Northern Ireland as British paratroopers opened fire; to seek out Egypt's president Anwar Sadat when he was targeted for death after making peace with Israel.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Enjoyed unexpectedly
- By Corinne O'Rourke on 09-06-23
By: Gail Sheehy
-
Flesh Wounds
- By: Richard Glover
- Narrated by: Richard Glover
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
A mother who invented her past, a father who was often absent, a son who wondered if this could really be his family...Richard Glover's favourite dinner-party game is called 'Who's Got the Weirdest Parents?' It's a game he always thinks he'll win. There was his mother, a deluded snob who made up large swathes of her past and who ran away with Richard's English teacher, a Tolkien devotee, nudist and stuffed toy collector.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Such a Meaningful Reflection
- By Awarenessing on 11-28-15
By: Richard Glover
-
The Possessed
- Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them
- By: Elif Batuman
- Narrated by: Elif Batuman
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 73
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
In The Possessed we watch Elif Batuman investigate a possible murder at Tolstoy's ancestral estate. We go with her to Stanford, Switzerland, and St. Petersburg; retrace Pushkin's wanderings in the Caucasus; learn why Old Uzbek has 100 different words for crying; and see an 18th-century ice palace reconstructed on the Neva. Love and the novel, the individual in history, the existential plight of the graduate student: all find their places in The Possessed.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Dear Russian Literary Diary...
- By Darwin8u on 08-29-17
By: Elif Batuman
-
The Mathematician's Shiva
- By: Stuart Rojstaczer
- Narrated by: Angela Brazil, Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 98
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 87
When the greatest female mathematician in history passes away, her son, Alexander "Sasha" Karnokovitch, just wants to mourn his mother in peace. But rumor has it the notoriously eccentric Polish émigré has solved one of the most difficult problems in all of mathematics and has spitefully taken the solution to her grave. A ragtag group of mathematicians from around the world descends upon Rachela's shiva, determined to find the proof or solve it for themselves - even if it means prying up the floorboards for notes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great read
- By Lee Crowe on 07-27-15
-
Crazy for God
- By: Frank Schaeffer
- Narrated by: Frank Schaeffer
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 172
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 136
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 135
By the time he was 19, Frank Schaeffer’s parents had achieved global fame as best-selling evangelical authors and speakers, and Frank had joined his father on the evangelical circuit. He would go on to speak before thousands and publish his own best seller. But while coming of age as a rising evangelical star, Schaeffer felt increasingly alienated, and as a result, he experienced a crisis of faith that would ultimately lead to his journey out of the fold - even if it meant losing everything.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Recommended!
- By Catherine Heard on 10-29-10
By: Frank Schaeffer
-
Because I Come from a Crazy Family
- The Making of a Psychiatrist
- By: Edward M. Hallowell
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 80
When Edward M. Hallowell was 11, a voice out of nowhere told him he should become a psychiatrist. A mental health professional of the time would have called this psychosis. But young Edward (Ned) took it in stride, despite not quite knowing what "psychiatrist" meant. With a psychotic father, an alcoholic mother, an abusive stepfather, and two so-called learning disabilities of his own, Ned was accustomed to unpredictable behaviour from those around him and to a mind he felt he couldn't always control.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Love and connection permeates through this book!
- By Steve Steinmetz on 06-29-18
-
This Close to Happy
- A Reckoning with Depression
- By: Daphne Merkin
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 68
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 59
This Close to Happy is the rare, vividly personal account of what it feels like to suffer from clinical depression, written from a woman's perspective and informed by an acute understanding of the implications of this disease over a lifetime. Taking off from essays on depression she has written for The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine, Daphne Merkin casts her eye back to her beginnings to try to sort out the root causes of her affliction.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I should be the last person to recommend this book
- By Mariaposa on 03-04-17
By: Daphne Merkin
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Where the Past Begins
- A Writer's Memoir
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 162
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 158
Moving from her childhood in Oakland and growing up with her Chinese parents through her success as a novelist, Amy Tan delves into her creative interests in music, the paralysis of beginning a new project, journal writing, and travelling. Where the Past Begins chronicles the making of a writer. With characteristic humor and poignant observation, Tan weaves a nontraditional introspective narrative that is as complex and vibrant as this beloved American novelist's fiction.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narration Issues
- By Sara on 12-14-17
By: Amy Tan
-
The Valley of Amazement
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu, Joyce Bean, Amy Tan
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,976
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,552
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,574
Shanghai, 1912. Violet Minturn is the privileged daughter of the American madam of the city's most exclusive courtesan house. But when the Ching dynasty is overturned, Violet is separated from her mother in a cruel act of chicanery and forced to become a "virgin courtesan." Half-Chinese and half-American, Violet grapples with her place in the worlds of East and West - until she is able to merge her two halves, empowering her to become a shrewd courtesan who excels in the business of seduction and illusion, though she still struggles to understand who she is.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Just could NOT get past the ugliness
- By Pamela J on 11-25-13
By: Amy Tan
-
Saving Fish from Drowning
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 17 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 491
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 238
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 240
Twelve American tourists join an art expedition that begins in the Himalayan foothills of China - dubbed the true Shangri-La - and heads south into the jungles of Burma. But after the mysterious death of their tour leader, the carefully laid plans fall apart, and disharmony breaks out among the pleasure-seekers.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Great book, shame about the narrator
- By Karen Campbell on 07-21-08
By: Amy Tan
-
The Bonesetter's Daughter
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,235
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 747
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 752
Ruth Young and her widowed mother, LuLing, have always had a tumultuous relationship. Now, before she succumbs to forgetfulness, LuLing gives Ruth some of her writings, which reveal a side of LuLing that Ruth has never known....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Exceptionally good
- By Eileen Finn on 03-25-03
By: Amy Tan
-
Rules for Virgins
- Wherein Magic Gourd Advises Young Violet on How to Become a Popular Courtesan While Avoiding Cheapskates, False Love, and Suicide
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 1 hr and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 160
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 137
Amy Tan takes us deep into the illicit world of 1912 Shanghai, where beautiful courtesans mercilessly compete for the patronage of wealthy gentlemen. For the women, the contest is deadly serious, a perilous game of economic survival that, if played well, can set them up for life as mistresses of the rich and prominent. There is no room for error, however: Erotic power is hard to achieve and harder to maintain, especially in the loftiest social circles. Enter veteran seducer, Magic Gourd, formerly one of Shanghai’s “Top Ten Beauties” and now the advisor and attendant of Violet, an aspiring but inexperienced courtesan.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it - oh so briefly!
- By Quiltrobin on 11-14-13
By: Amy Tan
-
The Kitchen God's Wife
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Gwendoline Yeo
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 706
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 628
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 628
For decades — in China and in San Francisco — Winnie Louie and Helen Kwong have kept each other's confidences, but those secrets are about to be revealed. Convinced that she is dying, Helen decides to celebrate the Chinese New Year by unburdening herself of hidden truths — not only hers, but those of Winnie and of Winnie's daughter, Pearl.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Holds your attention through out
- By GrandmaNurseHeather on 06-08-17
By: Amy Tan
-
Where the Past Begins
- A Writer's Memoir
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 162
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 158
Moving from her childhood in Oakland and growing up with her Chinese parents through her success as a novelist, Amy Tan delves into her creative interests in music, the paralysis of beginning a new project, journal writing, and travelling. Where the Past Begins chronicles the making of a writer. With characteristic humor and poignant observation, Tan weaves a nontraditional introspective narrative that is as complex and vibrant as this beloved American novelist's fiction.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narration Issues
- By Sara on 12-14-17
By: Amy Tan
-
The Valley of Amazement
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu, Joyce Bean, Amy Tan
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,976
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,552
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,574
Shanghai, 1912. Violet Minturn is the privileged daughter of the American madam of the city's most exclusive courtesan house. But when the Ching dynasty is overturned, Violet is separated from her mother in a cruel act of chicanery and forced to become a "virgin courtesan." Half-Chinese and half-American, Violet grapples with her place in the worlds of East and West - until she is able to merge her two halves, empowering her to become a shrewd courtesan who excels in the business of seduction and illusion, though she still struggles to understand who she is.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Just could NOT get past the ugliness
- By Pamela J on 11-25-13
By: Amy Tan
-
Saving Fish from Drowning
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 17 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 491
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 238
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 240
Twelve American tourists join an art expedition that begins in the Himalayan foothills of China - dubbed the true Shangri-La - and heads south into the jungles of Burma. But after the mysterious death of their tour leader, the carefully laid plans fall apart, and disharmony breaks out among the pleasure-seekers.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Great book, shame about the narrator
- By Karen Campbell on 07-21-08
By: Amy Tan
-
The Bonesetter's Daughter
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,235
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 747
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 752
Ruth Young and her widowed mother, LuLing, have always had a tumultuous relationship. Now, before she succumbs to forgetfulness, LuLing gives Ruth some of her writings, which reveal a side of LuLing that Ruth has never known....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Exceptionally good
- By Eileen Finn on 03-25-03
By: Amy Tan
-
Rules for Virgins
- Wherein Magic Gourd Advises Young Violet on How to Become a Popular Courtesan While Avoiding Cheapskates, False Love, and Suicide
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 1 hr and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 160
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 137
Amy Tan takes us deep into the illicit world of 1912 Shanghai, where beautiful courtesans mercilessly compete for the patronage of wealthy gentlemen. For the women, the contest is deadly serious, a perilous game of economic survival that, if played well, can set them up for life as mistresses of the rich and prominent. There is no room for error, however: Erotic power is hard to achieve and harder to maintain, especially in the loftiest social circles. Enter veteran seducer, Magic Gourd, formerly one of Shanghai’s “Top Ten Beauties” and now the advisor and attendant of Violet, an aspiring but inexperienced courtesan.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it - oh so briefly!
- By Quiltrobin on 11-14-13
By: Amy Tan
-
The Kitchen God's Wife
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Gwendoline Yeo
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 706
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 628
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 628
For decades — in China and in San Francisco — Winnie Louie and Helen Kwong have kept each other's confidences, but those secrets are about to be revealed. Convinced that she is dying, Helen decides to celebrate the Chinese New Year by unburdening herself of hidden truths — not only hers, but those of Winnie and of Winnie's daughter, Pearl.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Holds your attention through out
- By GrandmaNurseHeather on 06-08-17
By: Amy Tan
-
The Hundred Secret Senses
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
Years after her Chinese half-sister assails her with ghost stories set in the mysterious world of Yin, Olivia — a young woman from San Francisco — finds herself in China. Looking for a way to reconcile her past with dreams for her future, Olivia's American assumptions are shaken by Chinese ghosts, but she also finds reasons to hope.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
BUY THIS VERSION (Release Date 01–03-22)
- By Jessica B Hunter on 10-04-22
By: Amy Tan
-
The Moon Lady
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 46
Three sisters listen to their grandmother recount a mesmerizing childhood memory on a rainy afternoon. The long complex story, filled with danger and excitement, relates what happened when Ying-ying was seven and celebrating the Moon Festival in China. On that long-ago night of the Moon Festival, she encountered the Moon Lady, who grants the secret wishes of those who ask.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
This is a short story, not a novel
- By M. C. Thomas on 08-14-10
By: Amy Tan
-
The Joy Luck Club
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Gwendoline Yeo
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,157
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,709
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,700
For decades, a quartet of Chinese women who have emigrated to San Francisco gather to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk—they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Over the years, their stories have informed the lives of four daughters who feel the weight of family and world history on their shoulders. With wit and sensitivity, this novel explores the deep, complicated, and sometimes painful connections between mothers and daughters.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Joy Luck - abridged
- By Leslie Teicholz on 03-16-04
By: Amy Tan
-
The Joy Luck Club
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 2 hrs and 37 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12
For decades, a quartet of Chinese women who have emigrated to San Francisco gather to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk — they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Over the years, their stories have informed the lives of four daughters who feel the weight of family and world history on their shoulders.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
this is The Abridged version
- By Heather Tackett on 01-14-24
By: Amy Tan
-
The Backyard Bird Chronicles
- By: Amy Tan, David Allen Sibley - foreword
- Narrated by: Amy Tan, Evan Sibley
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 130
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 115
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 115
In 2016, Amy Tan grew overwhelmed by the state of the world: Hatred and misinformation became a daily presence on social media, and the country felt more divisive than ever. In search of peace, Tan turned toward the natural world just beyond her window and, specifically, the birds visiting her yard. But what began as an attempt to find solace turned into something far greater—an opportunity to savor quiet moments during a volatile time, connect to nature in a meaningful way, and imagine the intricate lives of the birds she admired.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Don’t Recommend As An Audiobook
- By AnnSG on 06-02-24
By: Amy Tan, and others
-
The Chinese Siamese Cat
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 15
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 14
A naughty white kitten, Sagwa, comes from a long line of royal Chinese cats. Her mischief changes the spirit of a cruel magistrate and helps shape the future for her ancestors. This beautiful story illustrates why Siamese cats are really Chinese cats and why their faces, ears, paws, and tails turn darker as they grow up.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Only 19 minutes
- By Linda on 04-11-15
By: Amy Tan
-
The Messy Lives of Book People
- By: Phaedra Patrick
- Narrated by: Katy Sobey
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 726
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 656
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 652
Mother of two Liv Green barely scrapes by as a maid to make ends meet, often finding escape in a good book while daydreaming of becoming a writer herself. So she can't believe her luck when she lands a job housekeeping for her personal hero, megabestselling author Essie Starling, a mysterious and intimidating recluse. The last thing Liv expected was to be the only person Essie talks to, which leads to a tenuous friendship.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
I'm giving up on this author
- By NMwritergal on 07-11-22
By: Phaedra Patrick
-
The Manor House
- A Novel
- By: Gilly Macmillan
- Narrated by: Ethan Reid, Nathalie Buscombe, Clare Corbett, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 518
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 481
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 481
Childhood sweethearts Nicole and Tom are a normal, loving couple—until a massive lottery win changes their lives overnight. Soon they’ve moved into a custom-built state-of-the-art Glass Barn on the stunning grounds of Lancaut Manor in Gloucestershire. They have fancy cars, expensive hobbies, and an exclusive lifestyle they never could have imagined. But this dream world quickly turns into a nightmare when Tom is found dead in the swimming pool. Was Tom’s death a tragic accident, or was it something worse?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Soooo Good!
- By Lee on 12-14-23
By: Gilly Macmillan
-
Parable of the Sower
- By: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Lynne Thigpen
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13,655
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 12,178
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12,138
God is change. That is the central truth of the Earthseed movement, whose unlikely prophet is 18-year-old Lauren Olamina. The young woman's diary entries tell the story of her life amid a violent 21st-century hell of walled neighborhoods and drug-crazed pyromaniacs - and reveal her evolving Earthseed philosophy. Against a backdrop of horror emerges a message of hope: if we are willing to embrace divine change, we will survive to fulfill our destiny among the stars.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Dystopia before dystopia was cool...
- By Amber on 05-28-14
-
The Storyteller
- By: Jodi Picoult
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno, Jennifer Ikeda, Edoardo Ballerini, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 18,847
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 17,133
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 17,129
Jodi Picoult's poignant number one New York Times best-selling novels about family and love tackle hot-button issues head on. In The Storyteller, Sage Singer befriends Josef Weber, a beloved Little League coach and retired teacher. But then Josef asks Sage for a favor she never could have imagined - to kill him. After Josef reveals the heinous act he committed, Sage feels he may deserve that fate. But would his death be murder or justice?
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The Baker, The Nun, The Virgin and The Monster
- By Suzn F on 03-05-13
By: Jodi Picoult
-
The Last Green Valley
- A Novel
- By: Mark Sullivan
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 6,683
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6,040
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6,018
In late March 1944, as Stalin’s forces push into Ukraine, young Emil and Adeline Martel must make a terrible decision: Do they wait for the Soviet bear’s intrusion and risk being sent to Siberia? Or do they reluctantly follow the wolves - murderous Nazi officers who have pledged to protect “pure-blood” Germans? The Martels are one of many families of German heritage whose ancestors have farmed in Ukraine for more than a century.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Too Religious
- By Laurie N. on 06-02-21
By: Mark Sullivan
-
Lady Tan's Circle of Women
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Jennifer Lim, Justin Chien
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,407
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,024
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,021
According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Another Beautiful Novel from Lisa See!
- By TuxedoedCorgi95 on 06-06-23
By: Lisa See
What listeners say about The Opposite of Fate
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- BardBear
- 04-02-19
Probably one of the best I have enjoyed here.
For some reason, these biographical tales are incredible in audio form, and this was better than most.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ramona Bagley
- 05-23-18
very interesting author.
I liked hearing the story read by the author. I have loved her books and rented the Joy Luck Club after hearing about the movie shoot. Really thought it was a great movie.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- JRT
- 03-16-16
My first Tan Book
At 50 I gravitate towards nonfiction, but don't like to waste time or be distracted with self help books. I consider that most fiction has more truths than do many nonfiction. In this memoir, it was the fictional writer in Tan that allowed for truth with taste. I am looking forward to reading her Kitchen Goddess book next. (I know not the title)
In my opinion Tan uses fiction to tell life lessons probably better than most self help books do.
I would love to read a book about Tans marriage and the secret to success. Hers is rare as it seems they haven't driven each other crazy.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kirti Vyas
- 10-25-23
Especially for Writers!
Tan offers a lot to think about to everyone, and especially to writers! Loved her narration. There are some events referred repeatedly, though.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!