
An Ordinary Man
An Autobiography
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
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Dominic Hoffman
About this listen
The remarkable autobiography of the globally-recognized human rights champion whose heroism inspired the film Hotel Rwanda
“Fascinating…your book is called An Ordinary Man, yet you took on an extraordinary feat with courage, determination, and diplomacy.”–Oprah, O, The Oprah Magazine
As Rwanda was thrown into chaos during the 1994 genocide, Rusesabagina, a hotel manager, turned the luxurious Hotel Milles Collines into a refuge for more than 1,200 Tutsi and moderate Hutu refugees, while fending off their would-be killers with a combination of diplomacy and deception. In An Ordinary Man, he tells the story of his childhood, retraces his accidental path to heroism, revisits the 100 days in which he was the only thing standing between his “guests” and a hideous death, and recounts his subsequent life as a refugee and activist.
©2006 Paul Rusesabagina (P)2006 Penguin Audio, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., and Books on Tape. All rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
- Stories from Rwanda
- By: Philip Gourevitch
- Narrated by: Philip Gourevitch
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unforgettable firsthand account of a people's response to genocide and what it tells us about humanity. This remarkable audiobook chronicles what has happened in Rwanda and neighboring states since 1994, when the Rwandan government called on everyone in the Hutu majority to murder everyone in the Tutsi minority.
-
-
Things you'd never imagine
- By LEE on 12-27-19
-
In Praise of Blood
- The Crimes of the Rwandan Patriotic Front
- By: Judi Rever
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize: A stunning work of investigative reporting by a Canadian journalist who has risked her own life to bring us a deeply disturbing history of the Rwandan genocide that takes the true measure of Rwandan head of state Paul Kagame.
-
-
A complete paradigm shift.
- By Amazon Customer on 05-23-21
By: Judi Rever
-
The Stranger in the Woods
- The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit
- By: Michael Finkel
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many people dream of escaping modern life, but most will never act on it. This is the remarkable true story of a man who lived alone in the woods of Maine for 27 years, making this dream a reality—not out of anger at the world, but simply because he preferred to live on his own.
-
-
Captivating Then Exasperating
- By Gillian on 03-10-17
By: Michael Finkel
-
Inside the Hotel Rwanda
- The Surprising True Story…and Why It Matters Today
- By: Edouard Kayihura, Kerry Zukus
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis, Rosalind Ashford
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the first time, learn what really happened inside the walls of Hotel des Mille Collines. In Inside the Hotel Rwanda, survivor Edouard Kayihura tells his own personal story of what life was really like during those harrowing days within the walls of that infamous hotel and offers the testimonies of others who survived there, from Hutu and Tutsi to UN peacekeepers. Kayihura writes of a divided society and his journey to the place he believed would be safe from slaughter.
-
-
#GetWoke #TakeAction
- By Jessie Bindy on 04-06-17
By: Edouard Kayihura, and others
-
An Ordinary Man
- The Surprising Life and Historic Presidency of Gerald R. Ford
- By: Richard Norton Smith
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 36 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the preeminent presidential scholar and acclaimed biographer of historical figures including George Washington, Herbert Hoover, and Nelson Rockefeller comes this eye-opening life of Gerald R. Ford, whose presidency arguably set the course for post-liberal America and a post-Cold War world.
-
-
Must-read Polemic
- By allison h eid on 10-17-23
-
Left to Tell
- Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust
- By: Immaculée Ilibagiza
- Narrated by: Immaculée Ilibagiza
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1994, Immaculee Ilibagiza's world was ripped apart when her native country of Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide. Her family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans. Miraculously, Immaculee survived the slaughter.
-
-
What a triumphant spirit
- By Kim on 01-22-07
-
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
- Stories from Rwanda
- By: Philip Gourevitch
- Narrated by: Philip Gourevitch
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unforgettable firsthand account of a people's response to genocide and what it tells us about humanity. This remarkable audiobook chronicles what has happened in Rwanda and neighboring states since 1994, when the Rwandan government called on everyone in the Hutu majority to murder everyone in the Tutsi minority.
-
-
Things you'd never imagine
- By LEE on 12-27-19
-
In Praise of Blood
- The Crimes of the Rwandan Patriotic Front
- By: Judi Rever
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize: A stunning work of investigative reporting by a Canadian journalist who has risked her own life to bring us a deeply disturbing history of the Rwandan genocide that takes the true measure of Rwandan head of state Paul Kagame.
-
-
A complete paradigm shift.
- By Amazon Customer on 05-23-21
By: Judi Rever
-
The Stranger in the Woods
- The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit
- By: Michael Finkel
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many people dream of escaping modern life, but most will never act on it. This is the remarkable true story of a man who lived alone in the woods of Maine for 27 years, making this dream a reality—not out of anger at the world, but simply because he preferred to live on his own.
-
-
Captivating Then Exasperating
- By Gillian on 03-10-17
By: Michael Finkel
-
Inside the Hotel Rwanda
- The Surprising True Story…and Why It Matters Today
- By: Edouard Kayihura, Kerry Zukus
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis, Rosalind Ashford
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the first time, learn what really happened inside the walls of Hotel des Mille Collines. In Inside the Hotel Rwanda, survivor Edouard Kayihura tells his own personal story of what life was really like during those harrowing days within the walls of that infamous hotel and offers the testimonies of others who survived there, from Hutu and Tutsi to UN peacekeepers. Kayihura writes of a divided society and his journey to the place he believed would be safe from slaughter.
-
-
#GetWoke #TakeAction
- By Jessie Bindy on 04-06-17
By: Edouard Kayihura, and others
-
An Ordinary Man
- The Surprising Life and Historic Presidency of Gerald R. Ford
- By: Richard Norton Smith
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 36 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the preeminent presidential scholar and acclaimed biographer of historical figures including George Washington, Herbert Hoover, and Nelson Rockefeller comes this eye-opening life of Gerald R. Ford, whose presidency arguably set the course for post-liberal America and a post-Cold War world.
-
-
Must-read Polemic
- By allison h eid on 10-17-23
-
Left to Tell
- Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust
- By: Immaculée Ilibagiza
- Narrated by: Immaculée Ilibagiza
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1994, Immaculee Ilibagiza's world was ripped apart when her native country of Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide. Her family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans. Miraculously, Immaculee survived the slaughter.
-
-
What a triumphant spirit
- By Kim on 01-22-07
-
Long Walk to Freedom
- The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
- By: Nelson Mandela
- Narrated by: Michael Boatman
- Length: 27 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. Since his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela has been at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world.
-
-
Surprisingly honest autobiography.
- By History on 11-17-11
By: Nelson Mandela
-
Dancing in the Glory of Monsters
- The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa
- By: Jason Stearns
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the heart of Africa is Congo, a country the size of Western Europe, bordering nine other nations, that since 1996 has been wracked by a brutal and unstaunchable war in which millions have died. And yet, despite its epic proportions, it has received little sustained media attention. In this deeply reported book, Jason K. Stearns vividly tells the story of this misunderstood conflict through the experiences of those who engineered and perpetrated it.
-
-
First book I've found that explains DRC
- By Amazon Customer on 09-09-17
By: Jason Stearns
-
The Wager
- A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
- By: David Grann
- Narrated by: Dion Graham, David Grann
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia.
-
-
Gasping for Air
- By Jean Engle on 04-19-23
By: David Grann
-
A Thousand Hills
- Rwanda's Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It
- By: Stephen Kinzer
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paul Kagame grew up as a wretched refugee. He and a group of comrades, determined to force their way back home after a generation of exile, designed one of the most audacious covert operations in the history of clandestine war. Then, after taking power, they amazed the world by stabilizing and reviving their devastated country.
-
-
Best Most Comprehensive Work on Rwanda
- By Greg on 07-30-10
By: Stephen Kinzer
-
To Sir, with Love
- By: E. R. Braithwaite
- Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With opportunities for black men limited in post-World War II London, Rick Braithwaite, a former Royal Air Force pilot and Cambridge-educated engineer, accepts a teaching position that puts him in charge of a class of angry, unmotivated, bigoted white teenagers whom the system has mostly abandoned. When his efforts to reach these troubled students are met with threats, suspicion, and derision, Braithwaite takes a radical new approach. He will treat his students as people poised to enter the adult world.
-
-
Great book!
- By Lionsroar on 12-08-18
-
Team of Rivals
- The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
- By: Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 41 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On May 18, 1860, William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Abraham Lincoln waited in their hometowns for the results from the Republican National Convention in Chicago. When Lincoln emerged as the victor, his rivals were dismayed and angry. Throughout the turbulent 1850s, each had energetically sought the presidency as the conflict over slavery was leading inexorably to secession and civil war.
-
-
Beautiful, Heartbreaking, and Informative
- By JJ on 09-10-12
-
The Children's Blizzard
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The morning of January 12, 1888, was unusually mild, following a punishing cold spell. It was warm enough for the homesteaders of the Dakota Territory to venture out again and for their children to return to school without their heavy coats - leaving them unprepared when disaster struck. At the hour when most prairie schools were letting out for the day, a terrifying, fast-moving blizzard blew in without warning. Schoolteachers as young as 16 were suddenly faced with life-and-death decisions.
-
-
Homesteaders
- By Phyllis Relyea on 01-22-21
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
Do Not Disturb
- The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad
- By: Michela Wrong
- Narrated by: Michela Wrong
- Length: 18 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We think we know the story of Africa’s Great Lakes region. Following the Rwandan genocide, an idealistic group of young rebels overthrew the brutal regime in Kigali, ushering in an era of peace and stability that made Rwanda the donor darling of the West, winning comparisons with Switzerland and Singapore. But the truth was considerably more sinister.
-
-
What is true and what isn't?
- By Buretto on 11-30-21
By: Michela Wrong
-
First They Killed My Father
- A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
- By: Loung Ung
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of seven children of a high-ranking government official, Loung Ung lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh until the age of five. Then, in April 1975, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Ung's family to flee and, eventually, to disperse. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, her siblings were sent to labor camps, and those who survived the horrors would not be reunited until the Khmer Rouge was destroyed.
-
-
Brutal, Heartbreaking
- By Gillian on 01-27-15
By: Loung Ung
-
The Daughter of Auschwitz
- My Story of Resilience, Survival and Hope
- By: Tova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A powerful memoir by one of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz, Tova Friedman, following her childhood growing up during the Holocaust and surviving a string of near-death experiences in a Jewish ghetto, a Nazi labor camp, and Auschwitz.
-
-
Very interesting and well told
- By Tracy F. on 03-31-23
By: Tova Friedman, and others
-
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
- By: Jack Weatherford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Jack Weatherford
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization.
-
-
Golden Horde/Platinum Listen
- By Cynthia on 12-11-13
By: Jack Weatherford
-
Gates of Fire
- An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
- By: Steven Pressfield
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gates of Fire puts you at the side of valiant Spartan warriors in 480 BC for the bloody, climactic battle at Thermopylae. There, a few hundred of Sparta’s finest sacrificed their lives to hold back the invading Persian millions. The time they bought enabled the Greeks to rally - saving, according to ancient historian Herodotus, “Western democracy and freedom from perishing in the cradle.” How did the Spartans accomplish this superhuman feat? This is what the King of Persia hopes to learn from the sole Spartan survivor.
-
-
Hard to read
- By Mike From Mesa on 01-28-13
Critic reviews
"Now, thankfully, we have not just his words but a whole book." (Library Journal)
What listeners say about An Ordinary Man
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JC
- 05-05-20
Colorful, compelling, timely.
Compelling, colorful, and beautifully told. With all the fear and loss of reason that has accompanied COVID 19, the message is as timely as ever.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Robert
- 08-05-12
Outstanding!
What made the experience of listening to An Ordinary Man the most enjoyable?
Powerful story, extremely well read (you can easily picture the reader as the author).
What did you like best about this story?
Demonstrates the impact that just one individual can have when standing against a powerful tide.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stephanie
- 09-10-12
A wonderful story from a wonderful man
What did you love best about An Ordinary Man?
I loved Paul's compassion despite his fear and horror as to what was happening to his beloved country, friend, family and neighbors.
Have you listened to any of Dominic Hoffman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
This was my first. I liked his performace
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 04-28-21
Inspiring and Important
This is one of the most inspiring books I have ever read. I use it last in my college Holocaust literature course. It is a favorite among students for good reason. Paul has many important lessons to share, and this book illuminates them beautifully!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wren Woodland
- 08-14-20
The courage of ordinary men and women
I read this for a book club selection and in this pandemic year of 2020 it seems more important than ever to learn the lessons this story teaches. Yes it is gruesome and appalling to read of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 but it is also uplifting to hear of the courage and bravery of ordinary men and women. It tells of the pitfalls of an uncaring government, pride,group/mob mentality and bloodlust. It also tells of love and caring, tremendous courage and creativity, and the importance of listening and hearing. I highly recommend this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- rgazaway
- 04-16-24
Great book! Never forget!
Lots of intriguing stories throughout the genocide. A great job to the author and I hope we never forget and repeat history.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Lori J. Rosendahl
- 04-18-06
Not An Ordinary Memoir
I just finished listening to "An Ordinary Man." It was an unbelievably poignant autobiography of the man that ran the hotel that the movie "Hotel Rwanda" was based on. It is not an easy listen. "Man's inhumanity to man" is really hard to believe. But, it is very well done and captivated me. I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in hearing the behind the news media sound bite story of the genocide in Rwanda and how one man made a difference.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jamar
- 06-17-13
Walking In The Shoes of An Ordinary Man
Such a captivating listen through Mr. Rusesabagina's tragic and horrific account of the Rwanda genocide. For those who have seen the movie, the audiobook will help fill in the gaps in which the movie totally missed. Mr. Rusesabagina talks about his life as a child in the hills of rural Rwanda to how he received his job at the Hotel des Mille Collines. He also talks about the aftermath of the genocide and the politics behind the entire event. And for those who haven't seen the movie, this audiobook will engulf you into the life and horrors of this terrible event...you will not miss a thing. Overall, this is a fast paced and very informative account of not only the Rwanda genocide, but also the life & culture of the Rwandans before, during, and after bloodshed.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dolphin3
- 12-21-22
very good
Paul brings the reader through his life before, during, and after the genocide, sharing his perspective. It is very well written and Paul articulates his ideas and actions wonderfully. It was truly a horrible genocide and Paul navigated it admirably during this time and he is an inspiration.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Mario
- 03-12-08
Lessons in leadership, and humility
By the time I was halfway through Paul Russesabagina's An Ordinary Man, I knew two things. 1. The Movie Hotel Rwanda tells a tiny fraction of his story, and 2. I have never done anything hard in my life.
Russabagina's 100 days in the Spring of 1994, when he cared for his Family and over 1200 refugees and employees during the Rwandan genocide, may be the single greatest leadership event of the 20th century. Students of leadership will certainly balk at that comment, but not after they read this compelling autobiography. I thought that I was reading an account of one mans experience, but I found myself taking notes on life, leadership, communication, and the complexities of good and evil from a master teacher. Have a pen and paper nearby before you dig into this one.
With much of the book dedicated to his life before and after the genocide, his insights to life make it obvious that Russesabagina would be an extraordinary soul even if he hadn't been through the horror that was Rwanda in those days.
Another book has been added to the "Must Read" list.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful