Preview

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

About Schmidt

By: Louis Begley
Narrated by: George Guidall
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.19

Buy for $17.19

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Louis Begley’s perceptive novel hums with emotional energy and shimmers with haunting images. A National Book Critics' Circle Award finalist, About Schmidt is a powerful meditation on loneliness, desire, and transformation.

Old-school lawyer Albert Schmidt has spent years carefully climbing the ladder of success. But now, at what should be the pinnacle of his career, his life is in chaos. Within months, he is widowed and forcibly retired from his firm. He harbors painfully mixed feelings about his ambitious daughter’s impending marriage. Suddenly, in the midst of this turmoil, a seductive young woman asks Smitty what he wants.

Far from being a time of satisfaction and complacency, the middle age encountered by Begley’s hero is the beginning of a new journey—tantalizing, yet unnerving. From the first step, Begley draws the listener deeply into a man’s quest for new ways to understand an unstable world.

©1996 Louis Begley (P)1997 Recorded Books, LLC
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

“Begley guides the narrative with aplomb and dry humor … His discerning intellect and lapidary prose distinguish this powerful story.” ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about About Schmidt

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Tried to listen 3 times and just couldn't

Would you try another book from Louis Begley and/or George Guidall?

I adore George Guidall but I'm done with Begley.

What could Louis Begley have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

This was just not my cup of tea so I don't think changing it would have worked for me.

What didn’t you like about George Guidall’s performance?

Guidall never does a anything I would change

Any additional comments?

I'm going to see Nicholson in the movie -- maybe I'll like it better.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!