Babbitt
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Narrated by:
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David Colacci
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By:
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Sinclair Lewis
About this listen
In this sardonic portrait of the up-and-coming middle class during the prosperous 1920s, Sinclair Lewis perfectly captures the sound, the feel, and the attitudes of the generation that created the cult of consumerism. With a sharp eye for detail and keen powers of observation, Lewis tracks successful realtor George Babbitt's daily struggles to rise to the top of his profession while maintaining his reputation as an upstanding family man.
On the surface, Babbitt appears to be the quintessential middle-class embodiment of conservative values and enthusiasm for the well-to-do lifestyle of the small entrepreneur. But beneath the complacent façade, he also experiences a rising, nameless discontent. These feelings eventually lead Babbitt into risky escapades that threaten his family and his standing in the community. Though published 80 years ago, this acerbic depiction of majority Americans, obsessed with success, material comfort, and midlife doubt, still rings true.
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Best book I've read to date!
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By: Grace Metalious
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Go Set a Watchman
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An historic literary event: the publication of a newly discovered novel, the earliest known work from Harper Lee, the beloved, best-selling author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning classic To Kill a Mockingbird. Originally written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman was the novel Harper Lee first submitted to her publishers before To Kill a Mockingbird. Assumed to have been lost, the manuscript was discovered in late 2014.
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To Kill A Mockingbird vs Go Set A Watchman
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Miss Lonelyhearts is an unnamed male newspaper columnist writing an advice column, which is viewed by the newspaper as a joke. As "Miss Lonelyhearts" reads letters from desperate New Yorkers, he feels terribly burdened and falls into a cycle of deep depression, accompanied by heavy drinking and occasional barfights. The novel is essentially a black comedy and is characterized by an extremely dark but clever sense of humor and irony.
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Charged with Meaning, and Far Leftist Leaning
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Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules (Unabridged Selections)
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Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories, some classic, others impending, selected and introduced by David Sedaris.
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Great stories but only 5 of 17 are included
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Bigger, newer, faster. Demolish and rebuild, then demolish and rebuild again. Smoke, soot, and noise are the badges of prosperity, and growth is for growth's sake.
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Fast and heartwarming
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For years, they were the best of friends: the grand, erratic Humboldt and the ambitious young Charlie. But now Humboldt has died a failure, and Charlie's success-ridden life has taken various turns for the worse. Then Humboldt acts from the grave to change Charlie's life: he has left Charlie something in his will.
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Great Book, Great Reader
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The P.G. Wodehouse Collection
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This title includes not only the entire audiobook of Right Ho, Jeeves, but also all of the P.G. Wodehouse titles in the current Classic Tales library. It also includes a Jeeves short story only available in the collection: "Extricating Young Gussie". The complete running time is over 15 hours. All titles have been remastered, and have never sounded better!
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Don't buy this version of the wonderful Wodehouse stories
- By K Bell on 11-05-16
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The Great Gatsby
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Set against a backdrop of jazz music, bootlegging, and lavish parties, The Great Gatsby is the story of Midwesterner Nick Carraway’s curious introduction to the decadent world of his mysterious, wealthy neighbor Jay Gatsby, whose thirst for riches is matched only by his tragic obsession with the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. This dangerously propulsive tale of glitz and glamour continues to be relevant as listeners long for escapist novels—a chance to flee into Gatsby’s famed mansion and lose oneself in the rush of opulence.
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Alive and Wild! I finished it same day.
- By Brea DeMarquee on 08-27-21
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okay story, bad narration
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loved it much more than expected!
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What listeners say about Babbitt
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Thomas F. Lennon
- 02-27-22
A Satire - and deeply human
It is an achievement to write something this satirical and in many ways scathing, and yet create a central character who, even if inarticulate and morally limited, still grabs and holds our deepest sympathy throughout. The book is as finely observed a portrait of America at the outset of the "roaring Twenties" as one could hope to find - and in its meticulously details and wry understatement, it is also often laugh-out-loud funny. But as Babbitt goes through his crises of identity and mid-life, I was gripped with worry for him, and I saw myself in him.
David Colacci has beautifully captured the "voice" of Babbitt, filled with bravura and yet with this undertow of vulnerability. I read the book in Whispersync, going back and forth between the written and the audiobook, but I preferred listening. Collacci breathed extra vitality into the story and its central character.
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- babylon baroque
- 05-14-22
A must listen & now a must read
I’ve meant to read Babbitt for years , decades , now having listened to this excellent reading of an incredible ( and incredibly funny ) observant work of art I must pick up an actual copy . Having recently moved to Chicago from LA, feeling a bit adrift , Lewis has helped me better understand and respect these good fellows (& gals) .
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- eddie
- 10-29-22
greatness
very lovely and funny well narrated a window on America in the 1920s
enlightening! really love the narrator He made it fun to come back and listen everyday
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- Ryan Baumbach
- 09-04-24
The ultimate story of trying to be what you might have been.
First of all the narrator and his impersonation of George sounded just like Walter Matthau. Bravo.
It’s funny to hear the conversations that go on between George and his friends especially at the first act of the story where they rail against unions and socialist policies but then in the very next few sentences praise the collectives that chamber of commerce and realtor’s associations to combat what they are complaining about. The conservatives are quite hypocritical indeed. Then when Babbitt goes liberal he just lives a vapid existence devoid of any real meaning besides indulging his own fantasies. Either of those existences are banal (certainly in his universe). He never really achieves any sort of life fulfillment until he realizes that the offspring he created still have a chance to find his failed fulfillment quest. This is a good book.
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- Magda Florez
- 09-08-19
Compelling story
When you first start the book it is very boring and monotonous. But once you get further into it you learn to understand the character and uncover flaws in our society.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Bill
- 10-23-24
Mid-life crisis
A pillar of the community begins to question his values and life choices, even begins an affair. Eventually he returns to his family and resumes his life.
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- Courtney Harbin
- 03-20-22
The Other, Relatable Gatsby
When most people think about popular works from the 1920s and 30s, they inevitably cite F Scott Fitzgerald‘s work. While he is an author that I certainly admire, I find that I like this book much more than his alleged magnum opus. Sinclair Lewis did not tell us a story of a rich and mysterious man trying to recapture a lost love. This novel is about an ordinary man who is trying to make it big in the world that is full of other people trying to make it big.
George Babbitt and his gang are much more believable than Nick Carraway and Gatsby. This book is much longer and shows the day-to-day struggles of someone who is living in a shallow society grasping at something that ultimately does not provide fulfillment, all while fighting the losing game of keeping up appearances in a culture that shines individuality.
One aspect of this book that I found especially enjoyable was its time capsule of 1920s clothing, slang, and descriptions of Daily life. This could have been just about anyone’s story 100 years ago. Sinclair Lewis is not quite Hemingway, but he is not quite Melville either. He waxes eloquent only in some parts of the novel, while others he treats with deadpan language to underplay the significance (especially the chapter where he gives the reader a panoramic of various tragedies and triumphs that are happening in the city during one night of the year).
David Colacci did a wonderful job voicing the characters. Everyone had a distinct tone and pitch, which made the parts easy to recognize even when the text did not provide a dialogue tag.
This was my first foray into the literature of Sinclair Lewis, and I plan to read more of his books.
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- Lady in the Pink House
- 01-04-22
Great story
Every bit as good as it was the first time I read it. Beautifully narrated.
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- E. Pearson
- 02-21-13
Makes You Think
I went into school teacher--or rather high school student--mode while I listed to this. I knew--partly from experience--that Lewis is a great writer; I also knew that satire is an amazing--and even entertaining--rhetorical style. I also knew that Babbitt is considered a classic. So, I listened and listened, and listened some more. Then I plodded along a little longer until at last I staggered to the end. I worked the whole time through: I analyzed, wondered, recognized moments of literary flair, eagerly chuckled at stylized and marvelous absurdites from characters and events. I even presented a book discussion to a small group af eager women, who seemed to have appreciated the book and author, too.
But . . it was a long, correctly executed journey. I didn't hate it--not at all: I could recognize its worth and even its very modern applications. . . . But why didn't I enjoy it? It had a story line that worked . . .yet it went on endlessly.
It's just me, but I'm wondering if perhaps satires are most successful as short stories. I think most people either "get it" (the satire and wisdom) quite soon . . . or not at all. Alas, no amount of beating us over the head will often change our opinions one way or the other. And I guess that's the novel's one flaw: it goes on and on long after the reader should have gotten the point and learned the lessons. Lewis keeps beating us with satirical joy and despair long after we've had our fill of chuckling and internalizing.
Still . . . I strongly recommend reading Babbitt--it will do you good! (that's me as a teacher teacher speaking)
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7 people found this helpful
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- Jon P
- 01-22-24
Brilliant Cultural Portrait
Utterly engaging story of George F. Babbitt, a supposedly normal family/businessman who was anything but normal.
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