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Between You and Me
- Confessions of Comma Queen
- Narrated by: Mary Norris
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
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Publisher's summary
Mary Norris has spent more than three decades in The New Yorker's copy department, maintaining its celebrated high standards. Now she brings her vast experience, good cheer, and finely sharpened pencils to help the rest of us in a boisterous language audiobook as full of life as it is of practical advice. Between You & Me features Norris' laugh-out-loud descriptions of some of the most common and vexing problems in spelling, punctuation, and usage - comma faults, danglers, "who" versus "whom", "that" versus "which", compound words, gender-neutral language - and her clear explanations of how to handle them. Down-to-earth and always open minded, she draws on examples from Charles Dickens, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, and the Lord's Prayer as well as from The Honeymooners, The Simpsons, David Foster Wallace, and Gillian Flynn. She takes us to see a copy of Noah Webster's groundbreaking Blue-Back Speller, on a quest to find out who put the hyphen in Moby-Dick, on a pilgrimage to the world's only pencil-sharpener museum, and inside the hallowed halls of The New Yorker and her work with such celebrated writers as Pauline Kael, Philip Roth, and George Saunders.
Listeners - and writers - will find in Norris neither a scold nor a softie but a wise and witty new friend in love with language and alive to the glories of its use in America, even in the age of autocorrect and spell-check. As Norris writes, "The dictionary is a wonderful thing, but you can't let it push you around."
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So We Read On
- How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures
- By: Maureen Corrigan
- Narrated by: Maureen Corrigan
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Conceived nearly a century ago by a man who died believing himself a failure, it's now a revered classic and a rite of passage in the reading lives of millions. But how well do we really know The Great Gatsby? As Maureen Corrigan, Gatsby lover extraordinaire, points out, while Fitzgerald's masterpiece may be one of the most popular novels in America, many of us first read it when we were too young to fully comprehend its power.
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Reading Gatsby as an adult reveals its greatness!
- By Mark on 10-06-14
By: Maureen Corrigan
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The Mother Tongue
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Stephen McLaughlin
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson - the acclaimed author of The Lost Continent - brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience, and sheer fun of the English language. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't) to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries.
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More satire than history
- By Barbara Kindle Customer on 12-18-15
By: Bill Bryson
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Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story
- A Life of David Foster Wallace
- By: D. T. Max
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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David Foster Wallace was the leading literary light of his generation, a man who not only captivated readers with his prose but also mesmerized them with his brilliant mind. In this, the first biography of the writer, D. T. Max sets out to chart Wallace’s tormented, anguished, and often triumphant battle to succeed as a novelist as he fights off depression and addiction to emerge with his masterpiece, Infinite Jest.
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Max avoids hagiography or a sycophant's biography
- By Darwin8u on 06-11-13
By: D. T. Max
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Dear Fahrenheit 451
- Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks
- By: Annie Spence
- Narrated by: Stephanie Spicer
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Librarians spend their lives weeding - not weeds, but books - books that have reached the end of their shelf life both literally and figuratively. They remove books that patrons no longer check out, and they put back books they treasure. Annie Spence, who has a decade of experience as a Midwestern librarian, does this not only at her Michigan library but also at home, for her neighbors, at cocktail parties - everywhere. In Dear Fahrenheit 451, she addresses those books directly.
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Totally captivating
- By Grace Smith on 03-24-18
By: Annie Spence
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A Little History of the World
- By: E. H. Gombrich
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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E. H. Gombrich's world history, an international best seller now available in English for the first time, is a text dominated not by dates and facts but by the sweep of experience across the centuries, a guide to humanity's achievements, and an acute witness to its frailties.
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an enlightening book; very well read
- By A.B.Oxford on 06-03-06
By: E. H. Gombrich
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The Grammar of God
- A Journey into the Words and Worlds of the Bible
- By: Aviya Kushner
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In this eye-opening chronicle, Kushner tells the story of her vibrant relationship to the Bible and along the way illustrates how the differences in translation affect our understanding of our culture's most important written work.
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a sobering read
- By Amazon Customer on 03-28-17
By: Aviya Kushner
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Where the Past Begins
- A Writer's Memoir
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Moving from her childhood in Oakland and growing up with her Chinese parents through her success as a novelist, Amy Tan delves into her creative interests in music, the paralysis of beginning a new project, journal writing, and travelling. Where the Past Begins chronicles the making of a writer. With characteristic humor and poignant observation, Tan weaves a nontraditional introspective narrative that is as complex and vibrant as this beloved American novelist's fiction.
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Narration Issues
- By Sara on 12-14-17
By: Amy Tan
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And So It Goes
- Kurt Vonnegut: A Life
- By: Charles J. Shields
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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New York Times best-selling author and biographer Charles J. Shields crafts this fascinating portrait of literary icon Kurt Vonnegut. The first authorized biography of the influential American writer, And So It Goes examines Vonnegut’s life, from his childhood to his death in 2007, and explores how the author changed the conversation of American literature.
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Probably only for die hard Vonnegut fans
- By Watery M on 12-22-12
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How Fiction Works
- By: James Wood
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Ranging widely from Homer to David Foster Wallace, from What Maisie Knew to Make Way for Ducklings, Wood takes the reader through the basic elements of the art, step by step. He sums up two decades of insight with wit and concision, resulting in nothing less than a philosophy of the novel, which has won critical acclaim nationwide, from the San Francisco Chronicle to the New York Times Book Review.
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Educational!
- By Don on 05-04-09
By: James Wood
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I Can't Complain
- (All Too) Personal Essays
- By: Elinor Lipman
- Narrated by: Elinor Lipman
- Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Elinor Lipman has populated her fictional universe with characters so utterly real that we feel like they're old friends. Now she shares an even more intimate world with us - her own - in essays that offer a candid, charming take on modern life. Looking back and forging ahead, she considers the subjects that matter most: childhood and condiments, long marriage and solo living, career and politics. Here you'll find the lighthearted: a celebration of four decades of All My Children, a reflection on being Jewish in heavily Irish-Catholic Lowell on St. Patrick's Day, a hilariously unflinching account of her tiptoe into online dating.
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Fabulous!
- By Louise on 09-15-19
By: Elinor Lipman
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This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder and Bel Canto examines her deepest commitments: to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband in This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Together, these essays, previously published in The Atlantic, Harper, Vogue, and The Washington Post, form a resonant portrait of a life lived with loyalty and with love.
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Entertaining, engrossing, and elucidative essays
- By Bonny on 01-07-14
By: Ann Patchett
What listeners say about Between You and Me
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Marie
- 05-23-15
Laugh-out-loud funny and informative.
I learned things I never knew. I now understand things I had memorized but never really could explain. I gained much appreciation for and greater willingness to be curious about grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, meaning, and usage. I need to buy the paper version for reference. Her voice and delivery were exceptional. I laughed out loud more times than I can recall and that doesn't happen often and rarely, if ever, for a book on grammar.
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27 people found this helpful
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- Rush and Rush
- 10-30-15
So Witty!
Any additional comments?
VERY funny! There is much to be learned from this book... and who knew learning intricate details about the English language could be SO engaging!
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- Mark Patterson
- 10-20-15
Excellent narration from a grammarian
It's odd to say, but the best parts of this book on writing were the personal stories and the narration. Maybe I am just partial to Ms. Norris's Cleveland accent, being from that area myself. But I found her friendly tone and mildly ironic style very enjoyable. Why three stars for the story then? I just had a very hard time following the book when it got into points of punctuation.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Donald E. Campbell
- 10-25-15
Writing from a different perspective
Any additional comments?
I really enjoyed this book. It discusses writing from the perspective of an editor. I like the way she weaves in personal stories -- and they do not feel like they are filler or irrelevant. Also, she discusses actual editorial decisions she made, some of which she later regretted. Her discussion of the angst (small) things like the placement of a comma or a hyphen is both informative and funny. And I will have to say, I will never look at a comma the same way again! I actually thought this was a good book for the author to read. Her voice is not a traditional smooth narrator, but it allows her to put emphasis on points that I think I would have missed just reading the words. Also, to me her voice had the tenor of a newsroom. In short, I liked this book and it makes me long for a really good editor!
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1 person found this helpful
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- ashley
- 10-09-15
Remove Foul Language Chapter & Would be 5 Stars
I enjoyed this book, it was funny and educational.
I really, really disliked the chapter on foul language. This woman is very intelligent, she doesn't need to try to say every vulgar word there is to make her point. That chapter was cringe-worthy.
The humor is quick and subtle but I dug it. This book might not be for everyone, but I like spelling and language. I particularly liked the part about hyphens and dashes and when it's correct to use them. Learning the history of the different elements was neat too.
All in all, I learned and laughed and was entertained.
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- Diana
- 02-08-16
I love words, and stories, and this book.
Grammar and punctuation were, and still are, weak points for me. I hated English classes until we came to the section studying Greek Mythology, and then resumed my hatred for English classes. I am not sure that my grammar or punctuation improved after listening to this audio book, but it was interesting to learn the root meaning of words, to hear about the behind-the-scenes operation of the editorial department of a newspaper, and learn about the historical and fairly current people who influenced word usage.
The narration was perfect. Of course.
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- Michael Dillon
- 04-21-15
I smiled through the whole thing
What did you love best about Between You and Me?
She is absolutely engaging. She understands the issues completely, and writes well about them without making anything into life or death. Almost tongue in cheek. I can't imagine that many people would find this all that fascinating. But I did. I'm nervous about my punctuation.
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30 people found this helpful
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- Gloria
- 11-22-15
Quirky but fun
This is a quirky book with an unusual subject. I gave it a four because it was a fun read (or listen) for a grammar and spelling nerd like me. I'm not sure the general public would like it, but my fellow grammar and spelling nerds would appreciate it. I also enjoy hearing the author herself read the book.
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- Frederick Tingler
- 10-15-15
I am a writer.
As a writer, I enjoyed all of the grammar geekiness. I also enjoyed her office supply geekiness. Decent story, real good grammar information. I found it useful to put the narration on 1.25 speed as she is rather slow.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Connie
- 10-13-15
Between you and me, this is an entertaining book
Oh, dear, oh, dear, I thought as I began Mary Norris’s “Between You and Me.” Her reading was too slow, too deliberate, and there was too much pause between some sentences and paragraphs. But now I know it would’ve been too bad to have missed this charming usage guide and memoir hybrid.
If reading and writing are like oxygen in your life, this audio book is well worth tolerating the different drummer rhythm of the reading. As I continued, either Norris improved as a reader, or I improved as a listener. By the final third, I swear I could hear the twinkle in her eye. I’ve read many memoirs by comedians that weren’t nearly as funny as this.
(Does anyone else deeply resent, as I do, being compelled to fill in the star ratings in order to do a review? It feels like the insipid Facebook thumbs-up and it's annoying when you're willing to take the time to articulate a real opinion.)
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7 people found this helpful