This Will Be Difficult to Explain
And Other Stories
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
This Will Be Difficult to Explain
Buy for $14.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Amy Rubinate
-
By:
-
Johanna Skibsrud
About this listen
Nine loosely connected, hypnotic stories about memory and desire showcase one of fiction's bright new voices.
In the Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author Johanna Skibsrud’s new book, nine loosely connected and hypnotic stories introduce an unforgettable cast of characters. A young maid at a hotel in France encounters a man who asks to paint her portrait, only later discovering that the man is someone other than who she thinks. A divorced father, fearing estrangement from his thirteen-year-old daughter, allows her to take the wheel of his car, realizing too late that he’s made a grave mistake. A Canadian girl and her French host stumble on the one story that transcends their language barrier. Youth confronted with the mutterings of old age, restlessness bounded by the muddy confines of a backyard garden, callow hope coming up against the exigencies of everyday life - these are life-defining moments that weave throughout the everyday lives of the remarkable characters in this book. Time and again they find themselves confronted with what they didn’t know they didn’t know, at the exact point of intersection between impossibility and desire. In This Will Be Difficult to Explain Skibsrud has created a series of masterful, perceptive tales.
©2011 Johanna Skibsrud (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Longest Ride
- By: Nicholas Sparks
- Narrated by: Ron McLarty, January LaVoy
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,514
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,552
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,562
91 year-old Ira Levinson is kept concious after a car wreck by visions of his late wife, Ruth, who recounts stories of their lifetime together. A few miles away, at a local rodeo, Sophia Danko, a senior at Wake Forest, meets a young cowboy named Luke. Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest reaches of the human heart.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic story
- By Bj on 10-13-13
By: Nicholas Sparks
-
The Best of Me
- By: Nicholas Sparks
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,344
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,746
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,751
In this number one New York Times best-selling novel of first love and second chances, former high school sweethearts confront the painful truths of their past to build a promising future - together. In the spring of 1984, high school students Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole fell deeply, irrevocably in love. Though they were from opposite sides of the tracks, their love for one another seemed to defy the realities of life in their small town in North Carolina. But as the summer of their senior year came to a close, unforeseen events would tear the young couple apart.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Horribly depressing
- By L.W. on 10-18-11
By: Nicholas Sparks
-
Breakfast with Buddha
- A Novel
- By: Roland Merullo
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,174
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,708
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,713
When his sister tricks him into taking her guru on a trip to their childhood home, Otto Ringling, a confirmed skeptic, is not amused. Six days on the road with an enigmatic holy man who answers every question with a riddle is not what he'd planned. But in an effort to westernize his passenger---and amuse himself---he decides to show the monk some "American fun" along the way.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
a thoughtful and often hilarious journey
- By Mary McCarthy on 09-15-11
By: Roland Merullo
-
Ghost Story
- By: Peter Straub
- Narrated by: Buck Schirner
- Length: 22 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,847
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,536
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,538
For four aging men in the terror-stricken town of Milburn, New York, an act inadvertently carried out in their youth has come back to haunt them. Now they are about to learn what happens to those who believe they can bury the past - and get away with murder. Peter Straub's classic best seller is a work of "superb horror" ( Washington Post Book World) that, like any good ghost story, stands the test of time - and conjures our darkest fears and nightmares.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great Story! The Best of Peter Straub
- By Jaimie on 07-17-12
By: Peter Straub
-
The Interestings
- A Novel
- By: Meg Wolitzer
- Narrated by: Jen Tullock
- Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,684
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,351
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,363
The summer that Nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable. Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed. In The Interestings, Wolitzer follows these characters from the height of youth through middle age, as their talents, fortunes, and degrees of satisfaction diverge. The kind of creativity that is rewarded at age 15 is not always enough to propel someone through life at age 30; not everyone can sustain, in adulthood, what seemed so special in adolescence.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Needs a better title, but a good read (listen)
- By Tango on 04-12-13
By: Meg Wolitzer
-
The End of Loneliness
- By: Benedict Wells, Charlotte Collins - translator
- Narrated by: Luke Thompson
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 105
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
I've known Death a long time but now Death knows me. When their idyllic childhood is shattered by the sudden death of their parents, siblings Marty, Liz and Jules are sent to a bleak state boarding school. Once there, the orphans' lives change tracks: Marty throws himself into academic life; Liz is drawn to dark forms of escapism; and Jules transforms from a vivacious child to a withdrawn teenager.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible!
- By Fleure on 01-30-19
By: Benedict Wells, and others
-
The Longest Ride
- By: Nicholas Sparks
- Narrated by: Ron McLarty, January LaVoy
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,514
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,552
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,562
91 year-old Ira Levinson is kept concious after a car wreck by visions of his late wife, Ruth, who recounts stories of their lifetime together. A few miles away, at a local rodeo, Sophia Danko, a senior at Wake Forest, meets a young cowboy named Luke. Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest reaches of the human heart.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic story
- By Bj on 10-13-13
By: Nicholas Sparks
-
The Best of Me
- By: Nicholas Sparks
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,344
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,746
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,751
In this number one New York Times best-selling novel of first love and second chances, former high school sweethearts confront the painful truths of their past to build a promising future - together. In the spring of 1984, high school students Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole fell deeply, irrevocably in love. Though they were from opposite sides of the tracks, their love for one another seemed to defy the realities of life in their small town in North Carolina. But as the summer of their senior year came to a close, unforeseen events would tear the young couple apart.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Horribly depressing
- By L.W. on 10-18-11
By: Nicholas Sparks
-
Breakfast with Buddha
- A Novel
- By: Roland Merullo
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,174
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,708
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,713
When his sister tricks him into taking her guru on a trip to their childhood home, Otto Ringling, a confirmed skeptic, is not amused. Six days on the road with an enigmatic holy man who answers every question with a riddle is not what he'd planned. But in an effort to westernize his passenger---and amuse himself---he decides to show the monk some "American fun" along the way.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
a thoughtful and often hilarious journey
- By Mary McCarthy on 09-15-11
By: Roland Merullo
-
Ghost Story
- By: Peter Straub
- Narrated by: Buck Schirner
- Length: 22 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,847
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,536
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,538
For four aging men in the terror-stricken town of Milburn, New York, an act inadvertently carried out in their youth has come back to haunt them. Now they are about to learn what happens to those who believe they can bury the past - and get away with murder. Peter Straub's classic best seller is a work of "superb horror" ( Washington Post Book World) that, like any good ghost story, stands the test of time - and conjures our darkest fears and nightmares.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great Story! The Best of Peter Straub
- By Jaimie on 07-17-12
By: Peter Straub
-
The Interestings
- A Novel
- By: Meg Wolitzer
- Narrated by: Jen Tullock
- Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,684
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,351
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,363
The summer that Nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable. Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed. In The Interestings, Wolitzer follows these characters from the height of youth through middle age, as their talents, fortunes, and degrees of satisfaction diverge. The kind of creativity that is rewarded at age 15 is not always enough to propel someone through life at age 30; not everyone can sustain, in adulthood, what seemed so special in adolescence.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Needs a better title, but a good read (listen)
- By Tango on 04-12-13
By: Meg Wolitzer
-
The End of Loneliness
- By: Benedict Wells, Charlotte Collins - translator
- Narrated by: Luke Thompson
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 105
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
I've known Death a long time but now Death knows me. When their idyllic childhood is shattered by the sudden death of their parents, siblings Marty, Liz and Jules are sent to a bleak state boarding school. Once there, the orphans' lives change tracks: Marty throws himself into academic life; Liz is drawn to dark forms of escapism; and Jules transforms from a vivacious child to a withdrawn teenager.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible!
- By Fleure on 01-30-19
By: Benedict Wells, and others
-
To Be Sung Underwater
- A Novel
- By: Tom McNeal
- Narrated by: Susan Boyce
- Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 110
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 83
Judith Whitman always believed in the kind of love that "picks you up in Akron and sets you down in Rio". Long ago, she once experienced that love. Willy Blunt was a carpenter with a dry wit and a steadfast sense of honor. Marrying him seemed like a natural thing to promise. But Willy Blunt was not a person you could pick up in Nebraska and transport to Stanford. When Judith left home, she didn't look back. But 20 years later, Judith's marriage is hazy with secrets....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Can you go back again? And why would you want to?
- By Pamela Harvey on 07-14-12
By: Tom McNeal
-
Bullet in the Brain
- By: Tobias Wolff
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 280
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 252
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 250
Anders is an angry, cynical man. A book critic known for his scathing reviews, he finds any excuse to dismiss, belittle, or insult. This afternoon is no more agitating than the next. Angers finds himself in a long line at the bank, waiting to reach a teller. Even after two men - wearing masks and carrying guns - take control of the building, Anders is unfazed. It's this behavior that lands him with a pistol against his stomach and a man screamingin his face. And when the bank robber, indignant over Anders' behavior, shoots the book critic in the head, his mind floats through the memories of his life, settling on one particular event....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Perfect Example
- By Sarah on 08-01-17
By: Tobias Wolff
-
A Home at the End of the World
- By: Michael Cunningham
- Narrated by: Colin Farrell, Dallas Roberts, Blair Brown, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 308
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 189
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 188
There's Jonathan, lonely, introspective, and unsure of himself; and Bobby, hip, dark, and inarticulate. In New York after college, Bobby moves in with Jonathan and his roommate, Clare, a veteran of the city's erotic wars. Bobby and Clare fall in love, scuttling the plans of Jonathan, who is gay, to father Clare's child. Then, when Clare and Bobby have a baby, the three move to a small house upstate to raise "their" child together and, with an odd friend, Alice, create a new kind of family.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
ended too soon
- By Sue on 09-30-05
-
Our Story Begins
- New and Selected Stories
- By: Tobias Wolff
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 192
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 140
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 135
Wolff here returns with fresh revelations - about biding one's time, or experiencing first love, or burying one's mother - that come to a variety of characters in circumstances at once everyday and extraordinary. A retired Marine enrolls in college while her son trains for Iraq. A lawyer takes a difficult deposition. An American in Rome indulges the Gypsy who's picked his pocket.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great
- By chris on 04-11-08
By: Tobias Wolff
-
The Road Home
- By: Ford Michael Thomas Ford
- Narrated by: Blake Somerset
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 78
When a car accident leaves photographer Burke Crenshaw in need of temporary full-time care, he finds himself back in the one place no forty-year-old chooses to be--his childhood bedroom. There, in the Vermont home where he grew up, Burke begins the long process of recuperation, and watches as his widowed father finds happiness in a new relationship that's a constant reminder of everything Burke wants and lacks. Exploring local history, Burke discovers an intriguing series of letters from a Civil War soldier to his fianc.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
No need to check your scepticism at the door!
- By Orlando on 08-23-13
-
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules (Unabridged Selections)
- By: Edited by David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris, Mary-Louise Parker, Cherry Jones
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 362
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 219
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 220
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories, some classic, others impending, selected and introduced by David Sedaris.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great stories but only 5 of 17 are included
- By Terri Kirk on 07-13-12
-
Wonders of the Invisible World
- By: Christopher Barzak
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 456
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 418
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 417
Seventeen-year-old Aidan Lockwood lives in the sleepy farming community of Temperance, Ohio - known for its cattle ranches and not much else. That is, until Jarrod, a friend he hasn't seen in five years, moves back to town and opens Aidan's eyes in startling ways: to Aidan's ability to see the spirit world; to the red-bearded specter of Death; to a family curse that has claimed the lives of the Lockwood men one by one...and to the new feelings he has developed for Jarrod.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Sugar coating of L.G.B.T. sprinkles, of all things
- By Eli on 01-19-16
-
Only Love Can Break Your Heart
- By: Ed Tarkington
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 75
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 73
Six-year-old Rocky worships his older brother Paul - 16 and full of rebel cool, smoking cigarettes, driving around in his Nova blasting Neil Young - until the day Paul, in an ill-advised act of vengeance against their father, picks Rocky up from school and nearly leaves him for dead in the woods. Paul then runs off with his beautiful, fragile girlfriend, never to be heard from again.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Makes your heart feel.
- By Cami on 02-11-18
By: Ed Tarkington
-
Fellowship Point
- A Novel
- By: Alice Elliott Dark
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 19 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 500
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 430
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 427
Celebrated children’s book author Agnes Lee is determined to secure her legacy—to complete what she knows will be the final volume of her pseudonymously written Franklin Square novels; and even more consuming, to permanently protect the peninsula of majestic coast in Maine known as Fellowship Point. To donate the land to a trust, Agnes must convince shareholders to dissolve a generations-old partnership. And one of those shareholders is her best friend, Polly.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Too far fetched at the end
- By JMNE on 08-25-22
-
Big Fish
- A Novel of Mythic Proportions
- By: Daniel Wallace
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 331
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 284
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 286
Edward Bloom, an aging salesman, is dying. As his grown son, William, cares for him, the young man tries to focus on what he knows about his father’s life. Story after story surfaces in William’s memory, and he shares mythic visions of a fantastic father who was loved by all - a man who was the best runner, fisherman, businessman, and adventurer in the world. Big Fish tells these tall tales of Edward Bloom’s life. Punctuated with his vast repertory of jokes, they set the stage for Edward’s final, wonderful transformation.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
movie was better
- By stephanie Colclough on 01-05-15
By: Daniel Wallace
-
The Whore's Child and Other Stories
- By: Richard Russo
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall, Robertson Dean, Arthur Morey, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 44
A cynical Hollywood moviemaker confronts his dead wife’s lover and abruptly realizes the depth of his own passion. As his parents’ marriage disintegrates, a precocious fifth-grader distracts himself with meditations on baseball, spaghetti, and his place in the universe. And in the title story, an elderly nun enters a college creative writing class and plays havoc with its tidy notions of fact and fiction. The Whore’s Child is further proof that Russo is one of the finest writers we have.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Worth the Download
- By Delah on 10-31-11
By: Richard Russo
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 178
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 161
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 161
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
THE MAN WHO FORGOT RAY BRADBURY
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 05-27-17
By: Sam Weller - editor, and others
Related to this topic
-
Bullet in the Brain
- By: Tobias Wolff
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 280
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 252
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 250
Anders is an angry, cynical man. A book critic known for his scathing reviews, he finds any excuse to dismiss, belittle, or insult. This afternoon is no more agitating than the next. Angers finds himself in a long line at the bank, waiting to reach a teller. Even after two men - wearing masks and carrying guns - take control of the building, Anders is unfazed. It's this behavior that lands him with a pistol against his stomach and a man screamingin his face. And when the bank robber, indignant over Anders' behavior, shoots the book critic in the head, his mind floats through the memories of his life, settling on one particular event....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Perfect Example
- By Sarah on 08-01-17
By: Tobias Wolff
-
Our Story Begins
- New and Selected Stories
- By: Tobias Wolff
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 192
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 140
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 135
Wolff here returns with fresh revelations - about biding one's time, or experiencing first love, or burying one's mother - that come to a variety of characters in circumstances at once everyday and extraordinary. A retired Marine enrolls in college while her son trains for Iraq. A lawyer takes a difficult deposition. An American in Rome indulges the Gypsy who's picked his pocket.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great
- By chris on 04-11-08
By: Tobias Wolff
-
The Road Home
- By: Ford Michael Thomas Ford
- Narrated by: Blake Somerset
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 78
When a car accident leaves photographer Burke Crenshaw in need of temporary full-time care, he finds himself back in the one place no forty-year-old chooses to be--his childhood bedroom. There, in the Vermont home where he grew up, Burke begins the long process of recuperation, and watches as his widowed father finds happiness in a new relationship that's a constant reminder of everything Burke wants and lacks. Exploring local history, Burke discovers an intriguing series of letters from a Civil War soldier to his fianc.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
No need to check your scepticism at the door!
- By Orlando on 08-23-13
-
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules (Unabridged Selections)
- By: Edited by David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris, Mary-Louise Parker, Cherry Jones
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 362
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 219
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 220
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories, some classic, others impending, selected and introduced by David Sedaris.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great stories but only 5 of 17 are included
- By Terri Kirk on 07-13-12
-
Wonders of the Invisible World
- By: Christopher Barzak
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 456
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 418
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 417
Seventeen-year-old Aidan Lockwood lives in the sleepy farming community of Temperance, Ohio - known for its cattle ranches and not much else. That is, until Jarrod, a friend he hasn't seen in five years, moves back to town and opens Aidan's eyes in startling ways: to Aidan's ability to see the spirit world; to the red-bearded specter of Death; to a family curse that has claimed the lives of the Lockwood men one by one...and to the new feelings he has developed for Jarrod.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Sugar coating of L.G.B.T. sprinkles, of all things
- By Eli on 01-19-16
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 178
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 161
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 161
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
THE MAN WHO FORGOT RAY BRADBURY
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 05-27-17
By: Sam Weller - editor, and others
-
Bullet in the Brain
- By: Tobias Wolff
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 280
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 252
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 250
Anders is an angry, cynical man. A book critic known for his scathing reviews, he finds any excuse to dismiss, belittle, or insult. This afternoon is no more agitating than the next. Angers finds himself in a long line at the bank, waiting to reach a teller. Even after two men - wearing masks and carrying guns - take control of the building, Anders is unfazed. It's this behavior that lands him with a pistol against his stomach and a man screamingin his face. And when the bank robber, indignant over Anders' behavior, shoots the book critic in the head, his mind floats through the memories of his life, settling on one particular event....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Perfect Example
- By Sarah on 08-01-17
By: Tobias Wolff
-
Our Story Begins
- New and Selected Stories
- By: Tobias Wolff
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 192
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 140
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 135
Wolff here returns with fresh revelations - about biding one's time, or experiencing first love, or burying one's mother - that come to a variety of characters in circumstances at once everyday and extraordinary. A retired Marine enrolls in college while her son trains for Iraq. A lawyer takes a difficult deposition. An American in Rome indulges the Gypsy who's picked his pocket.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great
- By chris on 04-11-08
By: Tobias Wolff
-
The Road Home
- By: Ford Michael Thomas Ford
- Narrated by: Blake Somerset
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 78
When a car accident leaves photographer Burke Crenshaw in need of temporary full-time care, he finds himself back in the one place no forty-year-old chooses to be--his childhood bedroom. There, in the Vermont home where he grew up, Burke begins the long process of recuperation, and watches as his widowed father finds happiness in a new relationship that's a constant reminder of everything Burke wants and lacks. Exploring local history, Burke discovers an intriguing series of letters from a Civil War soldier to his fianc.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
No need to check your scepticism at the door!
- By Orlando on 08-23-13
-
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules (Unabridged Selections)
- By: Edited by David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris, Mary-Louise Parker, Cherry Jones
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 362
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 219
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 220
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories, some classic, others impending, selected and introduced by David Sedaris.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great stories but only 5 of 17 are included
- By Terri Kirk on 07-13-12
-
Wonders of the Invisible World
- By: Christopher Barzak
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 456
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 418
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 417
Seventeen-year-old Aidan Lockwood lives in the sleepy farming community of Temperance, Ohio - known for its cattle ranches and not much else. That is, until Jarrod, a friend he hasn't seen in five years, moves back to town and opens Aidan's eyes in startling ways: to Aidan's ability to see the spirit world; to the red-bearded specter of Death; to a family curse that has claimed the lives of the Lockwood men one by one...and to the new feelings he has developed for Jarrod.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Sugar coating of L.G.B.T. sprinkles, of all things
- By Eli on 01-19-16
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 178
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 161
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 161
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
THE MAN WHO FORGOT RAY BRADBURY
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 05-27-17
By: Sam Weller - editor, and others
-
Lost Lake
- By: Sarah Addison Allen
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,501
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,316
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,316
The first time Eby Pim saw Lost Lake, it was on a picture postcard. Just an old photo and a few words on a small square of heavy stock, but when she saw it, she knew she was seeing her future. That was half a lifetime ago. Now Lost Lake is about to slip into Eby’s past. Her husband, George, is long passed. Most of her demanding extended family are gone.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Pure Sarah Addison Allen
- By tooonce72 on 01-27-14
-
Falling Together
- A Novel
- By: Marisa de los Santos
- Narrated by: Julia Gibson
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 141
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 120
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 121
It’s been six years since Pen Calloway watched her best friends walk out of her life. And through the birth of her daughter, the death of her father, and the vicissitudes of single motherhood, she has never stopped missing them. Pen, Cat, and Will met on their first day of college and formed what seemed like a magical and lifelong bond, only to see their friendship break apart amid the realities of adulthood. When, after years of silence, Cat - the bewitching, charismatic center of their group - e-mails Pen and Will with an urgent request to meet at their college reunion, they can’t refuse.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Narrator's breathy voice a turn off
- By Amy on 10-16-11
-
The Canterbury Sisters
- By: Kim Wright
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 63
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 60
Che Milan's life is falling apart. Not only has her longtime lover abruptly dumped her, but her eccentric, demanding mother has recently died. When an urn of ashes arrives along with a note reminding Che of a half-forgotten promise to take her mother to Canterbury, Che finds herself reluctantly undertaking a pilgrimage. Within days she joins a group of women who are walking the 60 miles from London to the shrine of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The Canterbury Sisters
- By Melissa on 09-22-19
By: Kim Wright
-
Bettyville
- By: George Hodgman
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 371
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 332
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 332
When George Hodgman leaves Manhattan for his hometown of Paris, Missouri, he finds himself - an unlikely caretaker and near-lethal cook - in a head-on collision with his aging mother, Betty, a woman of wit and will. Will George lure her into assisted living? When hell freezes over. He can't bring himself to force her from the home both treasure - the place where his father's voice lingers, the scene of shared jokes, skirmishes, and, behind the dusty antiques, a rarely acknowledged conflict...
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Title Should Be Georgeville-It's All About George
- By Sara on 10-08-15
By: George Hodgman
-
Driving on the Rim
- By: Thomas McGuane
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 92
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 71
The unforgettable voyager of this dark picaresque is I. B. "Berl" Pickett, M.D., whose die was probably cast the moment his mother thought to name him after Irving Berlin. Other insults piled on apace thereafter: the spasms of Pentecostal Sunday worship; the social debilitation of following his parents' itinerant rug-shampooing business; the erotic initiation at the hands of his aunt. It's hard to imagine what would have become of him had he not gone to medical school.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Delightful
- By Roy on 01-05-11
By: Thomas McGuane
-
The UnAmericans
- Stories
- By: Molly Antopol
- Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 124
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 111
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 111
Again and again, Molly Antopol’s deeply sympathetic characters struggle for footing in an uncertain world, hounded by forces beyond their control. Their voices are intimate and powerful and they resonate with searing beauty. Antopol is a superb young talent, and The UnAmericans will long be remembered for its wit, humanity, and heart.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Sensational stories! Brilliant new author.
- By MidwestGeek on 05-04-14
By: Molly Antopol
-
To See the Moon Again
- By: Jamie Langston Turner
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
The first step to letting go of the past is forgiving it …Every day of her life Julia Rich lives with the memory of a horrible accident she caused long ago. In the years since, she has tried to hide her guilt in the quiet routine of teaching at a small South Carolina college, avoiding close relationships with family and would-be friends. But one day a phone call from Carmen, a niece she has never met, disrupts her carefully controlled world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautiful Story of Forgiveness and Selfless Love
- By sharon on 09-20-14
-
If I Forget You
- A Novel
- By: Thomas Christopher Greene
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 70
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 56
Twenty-one years after they were driven apart by circumstances beyond their control, two former lovers have a chance encounter on a Manhattan street. What follows is a tense, suspenseful exploration of the many facets of enduring love. Told from alternating points of view through time, If I Forget You tells the story of Henry Gold, a poet whose rise from poverty embodies the American dream, and Margot Fuller, the daughter of a prominent, wealthy family, and their unlikely, star-crossed love affair.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good, but not great.
- By Amazon Customer on 07-01-16
-
Fragile Beasts
- A Novel
- By: Tawni O'Dell
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer, Laural Merlington
- Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
When their hard-drinking but loving father dies in a car accident, teenage brothers Kyle and Klint Hayes face a bleak prospect: leaving their Pennsylvania hometown for an uncertain life in Arizona with the mother who ran out on them years ago. But in a strange twist of fate, their town's matriarch, an eccentric, wealthy old woman whose family once owned the county coal mines, hears the boys' story and takes them in.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Tawni O'Dell Fan
- By bette on 09-20-10
By: Tawni O'Dell
-
After the Parade
- By: Lori Ostlund
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 50
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 45
Sensitive, big-hearted, and achingly self-conscious, 40-year-old Aaron Englund long ago escaped the confines of his Midwestern hometown, but he still feels like an outcast. After 20 years under the Pygmalion-like direction of his older partner, Walter, Aaron at last decides it is time to stop letting life happen to him and to take control of his own fate.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narrator
- By Barbara on 11-10-24
By: Lori Ostlund
-
Love Walked In
- By: Marisa de los Santos
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 381
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 286
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 290
Award-winning poet Marisa de los Santos crafts an irresistibly touching debut novel. Love Walked In is a contemporary tale, steeped in nostalgic, cinematic charm, of love in all its forms. Unapologetically idealistic about love, Cornelia Brown appears to catch the break of a lifetime when the dashing Martin Grace, her own personal Cary Grant, comes strolling into her life. But it is Martin's connection to 11-year-old Clare Hobbes that touches Cornelia's heart in ways she never imagined.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Dreadful audio quality
- By Marenghi on 09-16-11
-
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 138
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 118
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 121
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
What listeners say about This Will Be Difficult to Explain
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Beth Anne
- 07-19-13
Interesting Stories Ruined by Horrible Narration
What did you love best about This Will Be Difficult to Explain?
i loved the stories. i thought every single one was expertly written. there is a wide variety of topics, and every single character was well developed.
What was one of the most memorable moments of This Will Be Difficult to Explain?
the description of understanding love in Signac's Boats.
How could the performance have been better?
i thought that this narrator was robotic, had no emotion and was just awful. honestly, if the stories weren't so well written, I would have stopped listening for lack of interest. it is a true testament to the writing that i got through this boring draining narration.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!