Joe
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A Fringe of Leaves
- By: Patrick White
- Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein
- Length: 18 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Returning home to England from Van Diemen's Land, the Bristol Maid is shipwrecked on the Queensland coast and Mrs Roxburgh is taken prisoner by a tribe of Australian Aboriginals, along with the rest of the passengers and crew. In the course of her escape, she is torn by conflicting loyalties – to her dead husband, to her rescuer, to her own and to her adoptive class.
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Epic
- By Joe on 03-21-25
- A Fringe of Leaves
- By: Patrick White
- Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein
Epic
Reviewed: 03-21-25
Words fail me... the only word I have for this book or any of the three books I've read by Patrick White is 'epic.'
How else would you describe this book? It's the dramatic story of survival. There's so much turbulence in this novel. White's Shakespearean command of the English language brings to life both the interior world of every character as well as the rich narrative of shipwreck and the struggle to adapt and stay alive.
Deirdre Rubenstein's performance narration is wonderful. It was fun to read and listen to simultaneously, so that you could see how White wrote the accents of various characters and how Rubenstein brought those voices to life.
"Epic." I apologize I don't have a better word for this novel. Trying to summarize the magnificence of White's prose is like trying to describe the beauty of the Grand Canyon.
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The Anxious Generation
- How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
- By: Jonathan Haidt
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt, Jonathan Haidt
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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There is no bigger public health story now than the collapse in youth mental health. The numbers are terrifying and dominate our headlines. There has been much debate over how we got here, and what to do next, and bestselling author and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt is at the white-hot center of that discourse. Haidt has spent his career speaking wisdom and truth into the most difficult landscapes—communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the perfect storm contributing to a public health emergency for Gen Z.
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A Parenting Book for the 2020's
- By Looks and feels great. Even has little pads to prevent scratching on 03-29-24
- The Anxious Generation
- How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
- By: Jonathan Haidt
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt, Jonathan Haidt
School Boards - READ THIS!!!
Reviewed: 03-20-25
I’ve been a high school teacher since 2001. As such, I’ve had a front row seat to what I call “the zombification of humanity.” I’m so grateful that Jonathan Haidt wrote this book and lays out the clear evidence that it is not a mere ‘correlation’ that students have developed so many mental health problems and academic struggles as they increasingly used their phones. It is clear there is causation between screen use and the many problems that are surfacing today.
It’s an easy fix, as well as cost effective, to make schools phone free. So, why aren’t we doing it?
For too long I have, as a teacher, been subjected to professional development on how I can utilize technology to be a better teacher. Everything from quizlet to ChatGPT. But none of that is actually helping our kids. It’s just providing them with a new way to play in the classroom without actually learning anything. It’s garbage.
Haidt actually cares for kids (and their parents) and provides very clear and practical methods for how to improve the lives of the younger generation and generations to come. His practical solutions are supported with mountains of sound research. So, why don’t we make these easy changes he recommends?
SCHOOL BOARDS & PARENTS — READ THIS BOOK!
If you care about children, their emotional health, their confidence and competence to thrive as adults, read this book and make the changes. Get the phones out of the schools. Everything Haidt presents in this book is consistent with my experience as a teacher. We are currently harming children. And why should we continue when the solutions are so simple and, as this book lays out, founded upon real science.
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In One Ear
- Cocteau Twins, Ivor Raymonde and Me
- By: Simon Raymonde
- Narrated by: Simon Raymonde
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Beginning with Simon's remarkable childhood and exploring his relationship with his father, Ivor Raymonde (the legendary producer, musician and arranger for acts such as the Walker Brothers and songwriter for artists including Dusty Springfield), the book will journey through the musician's rise to prominence and his time with Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil. It will also chart the successful career he has forged running his own label, Bella Union, for the past twenty-seven years, discovering and developing globally renowned artists.
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For the love of Music
- By Kelly Ree on 02-11-25
- In One Ear
- Cocteau Twins, Ivor Raymonde and Me
- By: Simon Raymonde
- Narrated by: Simon Raymonde
The Kind Cocteau
Reviewed: 02-11-25
The first thing I must declare about this book, is how humble, honest and respectful Simon Raymonde is about nearly everyone and every experience. His voice is so enjoyable to read and even more so to listen to if you enjoy the audio book. This speaks volumes about his character, because no doubt the journey of Cocteau Twins was a bumpy one. (Read Aston Martin’s “Facing the Other War: The Story of 4AD” if you want that dirt.) But Simon is an empathetic writer, who is able to put himself in the shoes of all parties, to explain with amazing kindness and gentleness how events unfurled.
As a long-time Cocteau Twins fan, I cannot begin to explain how delightful it was to read the descriptions of how albums were made or the adventures that occurred on tours. It was great to read about Simon’s true appreciation of the genius of Robin Guthrie and Elizabeth Fraser, something that I can only admire from afar. I also developed a greater appreciation for how committed the Cocteaus were in defending their artistic integrity. My goodness: they turned down having Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois produce them AND they turned down doing the film score for David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet.” They were committed to making their music their way. And I LOVE them for it.
I got to see the Cocteau Twins only once, when I was 21-year-old college kid, in March 1994 at Bogart’s in Cincinnati, during the Four-Calendar Café tour. And—lucky me!—I got to meet Simon Raymonde after the show. I had left the venue and ran around to the back where there was a tour bus. I waited. The backstage door banged open and—behold!—here came Simon carrying his guitar case to the bus. Kind man that he is, after Simon delivered his guitar on the bus, he came back out and spoke to my friends and me. He signed our ticket stubs and a CD cover of ‘Heaven or Las Vegas.’ He engaged us in a brief conversation about the cover art of the new Four-Calendar Café album. And that was it. He disappeared back on the bus. I felt like a million dollars. I got to meet a Cocteau Twin!
To my delight, Simon Raymonde wrote several pages about March 1994. However, to my disappointment, he only wrote about how, early in the month, in Georgia, he and the band got to meet Jeff Buckley and watch him perform. I think you can understand how I might be upset by this. Simon wrote so glowingly about this Jeff Buckley guy, and yet said absolutely nothing about meeting me a few days later. I’m truly heart-broken, Simon!
The passages about Simon’s family are very touching, especially his relationship with his dad, Ivor, who had a truly remarkable musical career, and the stunning lack of communication between Simon and his dad, which I think was typical of our parent’s generation. Why didn’t we say more to each other?
The one thing all great music memoirs do is inspire you to go back and listen to those songs you’ve listened to a thousand times and hear that music anew, with fresh ears, and have a newfound appreciation. Simon Raymonde’s book accomplishes that.
And I will never listen to ‘Frou-Frou Foxes’ in the same way again.
Thank you, Simon. We love you.
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The Tree of Man
- By: Patrick White
- Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
- Length: 22 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Stan Parker, with only a horse and a dog for companions, journeys to a remote scrubby patch of land that he has inherited in the Australian hills. When the land is cleared enough for a rudimentary house to be built, Stan brings his new wife, Amy, to the wilderness. Together they struggle to establish a home for themselves and their growing family.
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Absolutely Absorbing Epic of A Frontier Family
- By Joe on 01-05-25
- The Tree of Man
- By: Patrick White
- Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
Absolutely Absorbing Epic of A Frontier Family
Reviewed: 01-05-25
"The Tree of Man" is an absolutely absorbing epic of a family in rural Australia in the first half of the twentieth century. Patrick White's eloquent poetry provides such a vivid portrait of the interior life of the characters, their community, the landscape and the invisible currents of emotion under it all. His writing sucks you in. The lives of the husband, wife and their two children become so real and rich. Their world will become your world.
The audio performance breathes even more life into this epic story. The narrator, Humphrey Bower, accentuates nuances that I missed the first time I read this book several years back. Listening to it this time, a whole new tapestry emerged. Bower brings to life all the voices: masculine and feminine, rich and poor, Australian and sometimes Irish. White's language is so beautiful and Bower does it justice.
It may be a trite trope to say, "they don't make 'em like this anymore." But you don't find literature like this in the 21st century. There was only one Patrick White. He deserved the Noble Prize in literature. Very few have his command of the English language. His Australian prose is inimitable. In our fast and flashy digital age, most people's brain's are conditioned to crave dialog and drama in a novel. They want a pot-boiler. This book is none of that. Yet, its slow poetry absorbs you in the everyday moments of a family that settled the Australian frontier at the dawn of the last century, befriended a few neighbors, then watched their land get consumed by a suburban sprawl over the course of decades as they dealt with the ordinary and extraordinary dramas of life. White captures deep emotional currents, an appreciation for the natural world, manual labor, tenacity in loving and a disgust with modernity.
This is a book that will leave you fulfilled. You will love it!
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The Aunt's Story
- By: Patrick White
- Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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With the death of her mother, middle-aged Theodora Goodman contemplates the desert of her life. Freed from the trammels of convention, she leaves Australia for a European tour and becomes involved with the residents of a small French hotel. But creating other people's lives, even in love and pity, can lead to madness. Her ability to reconcile joy and sorrow is an unbearable torture to her. On the journey home, Theodora finds there is little to choose between the reality of illusion and the illusion of reality. She looks for peace, even if it is beyond the borders of insanity.
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A Dreamlike Vision Quest
- By Joe on 08-09-24
- The Aunt's Story
- By: Patrick White
- Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein
A Dreamlike Vision Quest
Reviewed: 08-09-24
Do not expect this book to be an easy listen or read. It's not a page-turner: it's a page absorber. This book is a vision quest. And you, dear reader, will need to do some work to achieve the vision! Patrick White won the Nobel prize in literature for good reason. He has a powerful, poetic command of the English language. Although this is not a big book, it's one that, while reading, I had to frequently pause and re-read and re-listen to quite a few passages to ensure I was capturing the story as well as my little brain could.
The book is broken into three parts.
PART ONE takes place in Australia, where we meet Theodore Goodman, the 'aunt' of 'The Aunt's Story.' We get the background of her childhood and adulthood. She is a single 'spinster' who has been her mom's caretaker for several years. Now, her mom has passed away. Theodore is free and is able to do what she wants with her life. The first part ends with her contemplating her freedom and desire to travel. Theodora's mother is emotionally abusive and Aunt Theodora is highly admired by her niece, Lou. Even with the beautiful ribbons of poetry and non-linear storytelling, this first part is relatively easy to digest. So far, so good! Then.... look out!
PART TWO is the biggest chunk of thie book, the torso, and is set either on the southern coast of France or entirely in Theodora's imagination. Part two is schizophrenic. It is beautiful and visionary. Despite a few moments of humor, I found this second part to be dark. While making my way through the thick-middle of this book, I frequently had to put it down and listen to some happy music so that I could come back to reality, lest my mind remain in the bizarre and multileveled dreamscape of the 'Jardin Exotique' of Theodora's real or imagined French retreat. This is the biggest part of the book. It's one that takes a while to read and fully absorb. But, allow my to say it once again, it is beautiful and visionary, even if it does leave you depressed.
PART THREE is set somewhere in the midwest of the United States where there is 'a great trumpeting of corn." (I love that imagery!) Theodora haphazardly chooses a pseudonym as she boards with a rather lovely family at the tail end of the Great Depression with the storm winds of World War Two brewing. The family that's providing her with a room and meal seems like a nice, stable end of this book.... this part is a short 50 pages. But, then arrives a final hallucinogenic man to confront Theodore with all her dark anxieties and philosophical perplexities. The vision-quest of Theodora is not over yet!
This book is NOT a piece of candy! This book requires a reader to participate with their full imagination. If you're looking for a dark, poetic, vision-quest of a book, "The Aunt's Story" will satisfy. But YOU have to work for this one! It's like listening to avant-guard jazz. It's not pleasant at first.... but if you stick with it, it will exalt you.
Concerning the narration on Audible, Deirdre Rubenstein does this strange work from 1948 justice. She dramatizes it and breathes new life into it. I enjoyed listening to it as I simultaneously read an old physical copy. Rubenstein reads slowly, accentuating bits they may otherwise fall through the cracks. This is particularly helpful for part two. Rubenstein provides believable accents to the various characters--British accents, American accents, Russian accents and she even speaks perfect French where Patrick White sprinkles that in, quite heavily at times, in part two.
The one thing that is very interesting about this audio book is that Rubenstein does NOT incorporate any Australian accents. At least not that I could tell--all the Aussies speak in British English. I found that interesting for a Patrick White novel, and seems to be consistent with how many literary historians clump Patrick White in with the 20th century European modernists instead of thinking of him as exclusively Australian.
I'm very grateful that Bolinda audiobooks in Australia has cooperated with Audible so that we can finally listen to White's works performed here in the United States. A big thanks to anybody involved in making that happen.
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What This Comedian Said Will Shock You
- By: Bill Maher
- Narrated by: Bill Maher
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Some of the smartest commentary about what’s happening in America is coming from a comedian—this comedian being Bill Maher. If you want to understand what’s wrong with this country, it turns out that one of the best informed and most thought-provoking analysts is this very funny pothead.
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Great book by Bill Maher
- By michelle nachtigall on 05-22-24
- What This Comedian Said Will Shock You
- By: Bill Maher
- Narrated by: Bill Maher
Maher is the Erasmus for our Age
Reviewed: 08-08-24
Comedy, humor, satire—whatever you want to call the skill of making people laugh at themselves and the human condition as a whole, has played a vital and under appreciated role in the slow process of democratization in our history. But if it weren’t for humorists like Erasmus and Voltaire who taught us not to take ourselves or institutions of power too seriously, we might not have all the individually empowering rights we have today.
I think Bill Maher deserves to be part of that great lineage. And he’s certainly not the only one—we’re living in a golden age of comedy right now. But Maher is able to not only get us to laugh at all the crazy social and political stuff that consumes our lives and drives many of us—especially me—to anger. He has, with Real Time—created a space where different people with totally different world views and speak and listen to each other. Humor and Humanism. It’s an amazing combination.
I’m so grateful that Bill Maher is here and has the brains, backbone and the comedic genius to help us all be a little more wise and sane in this otherwise crazy time.
Thank you for this book and everything you do, Bill Maher.
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When I Was Your Age
- Life Lessons, Funny Stories & Questionable Parenting Advice from a Professional Clown
- By: Kenan Thompson
- Narrated by: Kenan Thompson
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Kenan Thompson is Saturday Night Live’s longest-ever-serving cast member and a star of such pioneering sketches as “Black Jeopardy” and is hugely beloved thanks to a tidal wave of nostalgic fans who grew up on early 2000s classics All That, Good Burger, and Kenan & Kel on Nickelodeon. He’s also a dad (to two girls) in his mid-40s living in suburbia, and whose universal, relatable, family-friendly humor has created unbelievable appeal and engagement from fans from middle America to coastal elites. Becoming a dad sucked the cool right out of him—and he's OK with that!
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An incredible storyteller
- By K. Brown on 01-07-24
- When I Was Your Age
- Life Lessons, Funny Stories & Questionable Parenting Advice from a Professional Clown
- By: Kenan Thompson
- Narrated by: Kenan Thompson
Good Stuff for Kenan Fans
Reviewed: 07-27-24
This was an enjoyable and fun listen. I’ve always enjoyed Kenan Thompson’s work on SNL and enjoyed learning a little bit more about the man himself.
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Entrances and Exits
- By: Michael Richards, Jerry Seinfeld - foreword
- Narrated by: Michael Richards
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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The man who brought the kavorka to the Seinfeld show through one of the most remarkable and beloved television characters ever invented, Kramer, shares the extraordinary life of a comedy genius—the way he came into himself as an artist, the ups and downs as a human being, the road he has traveled in search of understanding.
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Simply amazing.
- By Norman Kent on 06-26-24
- Entrances and Exits
- By: Michael Richards, Jerry Seinfeld - foreword
- Narrated by: Michael Richards
A work of literature
Reviewed: 07-16-24
Michael Richards is truly eloquent, authentic and profound in this memoir. I didn’t expect a work of literature—but I feel that’s what this is.
Yes, you’ll get new behind-the-scenes insights into ‘Seinfeld.’ I assume that most of the people who read or listen to this book are people who are big fans of the show, like me. But you’ll get so much more. The backstory of Michael Richards is gripping, sad and beautiful. His journey as an entertainer is also one propelled by spiritual seeking. The result is a very rich memoir. You’ll certainly never look at Kramer the same way again.
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Lonesome Dove
- By: Larry McMurtry
- Narrated by: Lee Horsley
- Length: 36 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Two retired Texas Rangers, Captains Woodrow Call and Augustus "Gus" McCrae, lead a cattle drive from the small town of Lonesome Dove to the unsettled Montana territories. On their grueling journey, they are joined by Joshua Deets, a Black scout and former Ranger, Jake Spoon, a fugitive, and Newt Dobbs, a 17-year-old boy who may have family ties to Call. Richly authentic, beautifully written, always dramatic, Lonesome Dove will make listeners laugh and weep, dream and remember.
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Could not listen
- By Amazon Customer on 09-05-18
- Lonesome Dove
- By: Larry McMurtry
- Narrated by: Lee Horsley
Epic American Novel
Reviewed: 06-02-24
This is a book that invites you into a lost world. It’s beautiful and brutal. It’s exactly what you would expect out of an epic novel of the old west…. Multiplied by a million. You’ll love it.
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Lonesome Dove
- By: Larry McMurtry
- Narrated by: Lee Horsley
- Length: 36 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Journey to the dusty little Texas town of Lonesome Dove and meet an unforgettable assortment of heroes and outlaws, whores and ladies, Indians and settlers. Richly authentic, beautifully written, always dramatic, Lonesome Dove will make listeners laugh, weep, dream, and remember.
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The Narrator’s breathing is unbearable!!!
- By Basic Review on 08-28-19
- Lonesome Dove
- By: Larry McMurtry
- Narrated by: Lee Horsley
Epic American Novel
Reviewed: 06-02-24
This is a book that invites you into a lost world. It’s beautiful and brutal. It’s exactly what you would expect out of an epic novel of the old west…. Multiplied by a million. You’ll love it.
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