All Is Vanity
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Blair Brown
About this listen
Margaret and Letty, best friends since childhood and now living on opposite coasts, reach their mid-30s and begin to chafe at their sense that they are not where they ought to be in life. Margaret, driven and overconfident, decides the best way to rectify this is to quit her job and whip out a literary tour de force. Frustrated almost immediately and humiliated at every turn, Margaret turns to Letty for support. But as Letty, a stay-at-home mother of four, begins to feel pressured to make a good showing in the upper-middle-class Los Angeles society into which her husband's new job has thrust her, Margaret sees a plot unfolding that's better than anything she could make up. Desperate to finish her book and against her better nature, she pushes Letty to take greater and greater risks, and secretly steals her friend's stories as fast as she can live them. Hungry for the world's regard, Margaret rashly sacrifices one of the things most precious to her, until the novel's suspenseful conclusion shows her the terrible consequences of her betrayal.
Widely celebrated for her debut novel, Drowning Ruth, Christina Schwarz once again proves herself to be a writer of remarkable depth and range. All Is Vanity probes into the mysteries of the human heart and uncovers the passions that drive ordinary people to break the rules in pursuit of their own desires.
©2002 Christina Schwarz (P)2002 Random House Inc., Random House Audio, a Division of Random House Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
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Once upon a time four aspiring authors met at their very first writers' conference. Ten years later they're still friends, survivors of the ultra-competitive New York publishing world. Mallory St. James is a workaholic whose best sellers support a lavish lifestyle. Tanya Mason is a single mother juggling two jobs, two kids, and too many deadlines. Faye Truett is the wife of a famous televangelist and the author of inspirational romances: No one would ever guess her explosive secret.
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Meh....just okay.
- By S on 02-19-13
By: Wendy Wax
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The Gap of Time
- William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale Retold: A Novel
- By: Jeanette Winterson
- Narrated by: Penelope Rawlins, Mark Bazeley, Ben Onwukwe
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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The Winter’s Tale is one of Shakespeare’s “late plays.” It tells the story of a king whose jealousy results in the banishment of his baby daughter and the death of his beautiful wife. His daughter is found and brought up by a shepherd on the Bohemian coast, but through a series of extraordinary events, father and daughter, and eventually mother too, are reunited.
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Nice take
- By Daniel Crumbo on 10-28-15
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Coming Home
- Chesapeake Diaries Series #1
- By: Mariah Stewart
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In the wake of his wife's murder, agent Grady Shields turned his back on the FBI - and everything else-to retreat into the vast solitude of Montana, grieve for his lost love, and forget the world. But after years in seclusion, his sister's wedding draws him to St. Dennis, a peaceful town on the Chesapeake Bay. Though he swears he isn't interested in finding love again, Grady can't ignore the mutual sparks that fly when he meets Vanessa Keaton.
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Graet New Series from Audible
- By casey on 08-25-12
By: Mariah Stewart
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Bright Lights, Big City
- By: Jay McInerney
- Narrated by: Daniel Passer
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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The tragicomedy of a young man in New York City, a writer, never named, who works as a fact-checker for a prestigious magazine. He struggles with the reality of his mother's death, alienation, and the seductive pull of drugs and a vibrant nightlife.
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Curiously, mundanely real
- By Amber on 01-07-12
By: Jay McInerney
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The Admissions
- A Novel
- By: Meg Mitchell Moore
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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The Hawthorne family has it all. Great jobs, a beautiful house in one of the most affluent areas of Northern California, and three charming kids whose sunny futures are all but assured. And then comes their eldest daughter's senior year of high school....
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Anything for success
- By JillHen on 09-13-15
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Murder of a Small-Town Honey
- A Scumble River Mystery, Book 1
- By: Denise Swanson
- Narrated by: Christine Leto
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
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When Skye Denison left Scumble River years ago, she swore she'd never return. But after a bout with her boyfriend and credit card rejection, she's back to home sweet - homicide....
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unacceptable production
- By Music Lover on 06-28-13
By: Denise Swanson
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The Rest of Her Life
- By: Laura Moriarty
- Narrated by: Julia Gibson
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Leigh is the mother of high-achieving, popular high school senior Kara. Their relationship is already strained for reasons Leigh does not fully understand when, in a moment of carelessness, Kara makes a mistake that ends in tragedy, the effects of which not only divide Leigh's family, but polarize the entire community.
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Obnoxious musical interludes ruin the story
- By Joan on 12-25-11
By: Laura Moriarty
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To See the Moon Again
- By: Jamie Langston Turner
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Beautiful Story of Forgiveness and Selfless Love
- By sharon on 09-20-14
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The Widow of Wall Street
- A Novel
- By: Randy Susan Meyers
- Narrated by: Susan Bennett
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Phoebe has loved Jake Pierce since childhood, and that love continues without hesitation while she watches him create a financial dynasty. But when Phoebe learns that her husband's triumphs are the result of an elaborate Ponzi scheme, her world unravels. Lies underpin her life and marriage. And as Jake's crime is uncovered, the world obsesses over her. Did she know her gilded life was fabricated by fraud?
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Here's a Miracle: Sympathy for Ruth Madoff
- By Godwillen on 05-24-17
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After the Parade
- By: Lori Ostlund
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Narrator
- By Barbara on 11-10-24
By: Lori Ostlund
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The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections
- By: Eva Jurczyk
- Narrated by: Hannah Cabell
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Liesl Weiss long ago learned to be content working behind the scenes in the distinguished rare books department of a large university, managing details and working behind the scenes to make the head of the department look good. But when her boss has a stroke and she's left to run things, she discovers that the library's most prized manuscript is missing.
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Why?
- By Kenna on 08-14-22
By: Eva Jurczyk
What listeners say about All Is Vanity
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Sara Gallinger
- 08-29-04
These people are too stupid!
I loved Christina Schwarz's earlier Drwoning Ruth. This book was totally disappointing. While the writing was ok and the narrator did her best I could not stand the silly self absorbed characters. The point of view switched which was refreshing but not enough time spent with Letty to relieve the drivel of Margaret's life. Buy Drowning Ruth instead and listen to it twice!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Linda
- 06-02-09
Drivel
Drivel is the word I kept hearing in my head as I read All is Vanity. Of course, the title says it all, but I had to spend all those hours listening to 2 immature, neurotic women bemoan decent lives while living in their fantasy worlds. I wish I hadn't bothered. Stick to Drowning Ruth which was a fantastic read.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Patricia B Tripoli
- 06-11-06
Get Drowning Ruth Instead
I quite agree with Sara!! Christina Schwarz's first book Drowning Ruth was as good as this book is bad.
It starts out pleasant enough but goes nowehere fast. Christina could have been writing about herself, not being able to get a good idea to start writing this book.
As Sara said, buy Drowning Ruth instead and listen to it twice!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Sharon Schwartz
- 05-08-12
Msut read-like looking in a mirror!
Would you listen to All Is Vanity again? Why?
I would not listen to it again because the story has a build up that once you have read it and know what the outcome will be , the enjoyment might be lessened.
Who was your favorite character and why?
both characters stroke a cord with me and I could easily put myself in their shoes.
Have you listened to any of Blair Brown’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
no I have not.
If you could rename All Is Vanity, what would you call it?
Keeping up appearences!!
Any additional comments?
After reading Drowning Ruth years ago, I enjoyed this book greatly, although they are not similar. I have definitely become a Christina Schwarz fan.
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Overall
- DH
- 08-11-04
Strange Bedfellows
Why are these two people friends? This book is expertly written and humoursly woven around a tragic situation. The writing of this book must have been quit hard to write. The things Margaret does to her friend are unforgiveable. I loved it and cried at the end - Life is a cruel taskmaster - it is important for all of us to discover our talent and not copy from someone's life - it can come to the crumbling of oneself and friendship - As usual Blair reads it so good!
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4 people found this helpful