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Classics of American Literature
- Narrated by: Arnold Weinstein
- Length: 43 hrs and 55 mins
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Publisher's summary
To truly understand the United States of America, you must explore its literary tradition. Now, in this grand collection of 84 fascinating lectures, you'll get the chance to finally become familiar with America's true literary masterpieces (some you may already be familiar with, others you have yet to discover).
Professor Weinstein has crafted these lectures to explain why some works become classics while others do not, why some "immortal" works fade from our attention completely, and even why some contemporary works now being ignored or snubbed by critics may be considered immortal one day. One memorable work at a time, you'll see how each of these masterpieces shares the uncompromising uniqueness that invariably marks the entire American literary canon.
From Sleepy Hollow to The Great Gatsby and beyond, you'll journey through more than two centuries of the best writers America has yet produced, bringing out the beauty of their language, the excitement of their stories, and the value in what they say about life, power, love, adventure, and what it means, in every sense, to be American. You'll explore the roles of self-reliance and the "self-made man" in the evolution of American literature; the evolution of the American ghost story, from Poe and Hawthorne to James and Morrison; the epic strain in American literature, from Melville and Whitman to Faulkner and Ellison; the perspectives on nature revealed in poets Whitman, Dickinson, Frost, and Eliot; the tenets of Modernism in the work of Eliot, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Faulkner; the contributions of O'Neill, Miller, and Williams to American theater; and much more.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
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Wonderful narration. Mediocre stories.
- By Michael Fuchs on 11-07-23
By: Stephen Fry, and others
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Dracula [Audible Edition]
- By: Bram Stoker
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, Simon Vance, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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The modern audience hasn't had a chance to truly appreciate the unknowing dread that readers would have felt when reading Bram Stoker's original 1897 manuscript. Most modern productions employ campiness or sound effects to try to bring back that gothic tension, but we've tried something different. By returning to Stoker's original storytelling structure - a series of letters and journal entries voiced by Jonathan Harker, Dr. Van Helsing, and other characters - with an all-star cast of narrators, we've sought to recapture its originally intended horror and power.
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IS THAT NOT SO?
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-05-15
By: Bram Stoker
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Brain Damage
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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As Charly struggles to recover from her brain injury, she begins to realize that the events of that fateful night are trapped in the damaged right side of her brain. Now, she must put the jigsaw pieces together to discover the identity of the man who tried to kill her...before he finishes the job he started.
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Who Else Laughed, Cried, and Shuddered?
- By Jennifer Chichester on 09-16-22
By: Freida McFadden
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Frankenstein
- By: Mary Shelley
- Narrated by: Dan Stevens
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Narrator Dan Stevens ( Downton Abbey) presents an uncanny performance of Mary Shelley's timeless gothic novel, an epic battle between man and monster at its greatest literary pitch. In trying to create life, the young student Victor Frankenstein unleashes forces beyond his control, setting into motion a long and tragic chain of events that brings Victor to the very brink of madness. How he tries to destroy his creation, as it destroys everything Victor loves, is a powerful story of love, friendship, scientific hubris, and horror.
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ARE WE ALWAYS TO BE UNHAPPY?
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 01-28-16
By: Mary Shelley
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Fahrenheit 451
- By: Ray Bradbury
- Narrated by: Tim Robbins
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family."
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Wish I Hadn't Cliff Noted This in High School
- By Joel on 03-27-17
By: Ray Bradbury
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Slayers: A Buffyverse Story
- By: Christopher Golden, Amber Benson
- Narrated by: Amber Benson, Charisma Carpenter, James Charles Leary, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
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Original cast members from the beloved TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, reunite for an all-new adventure about connections that never die—even if you bury them. A decade has passed since the epic final battle that concluded Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV). The game-changing spell that gave power to all potential Slayers persists. With new Slayers constantly emerging, things are looking grim for the bad guys.
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A dream come true
- By Anonymous User on 10-12-23
By: Christopher Golden, and others
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Basically a collection of sermons
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Vandiver never disappoints
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A very enjoyable and educational audiobook
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A Disappointingly Distorted, Myopic View Of Jazz
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Excellent Series
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Little mistakes here and there
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What listeners say about Classics of American Literature
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Sabrina H
- 05-12-16
Blah
The lecturer seems to frequently lose his train of thought. I thought the material to be very opinion based, where I was looking for factual information . Also the professor is obsessed with sex or thinks every writer is.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Andre
- 11-04-14
FAKE!! this book isn't REALLY available
Would you try another book from The Great Courses and/or Professor Arnold Weinstein?
Not from this con
What was most disappointing about The Great Courses’s story?
You can't download it and the first part is one big ad
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5 people found this helpful
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- A. Lauper
- 08-24-19
Classics of American Literatures
This is a series of 84 classroom lectures on American Classic Books. I did not always agreed with the teacher but it did teach me more about the American mindset and why those books were written.
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1 person found this helpful
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- marion amore
- 02-06-23
fascinating
Great Professor and interesting lectures. I got a real sense of the scope and themes in this survey of American Literature. My BA in English Literature more focused on history of Literature from England.
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- David Alexander
- 07-26-20
Exceptional scholarship
I had “read” several of the featured novels in the lectures. Professor Weinstein’s lectures kindly demonstrated that I was merely “acquainted” with these novels. His insights and the connection and context he provided brilliantly illuminated the contributions of these works to telling the story of the American ethos.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Austin
- 03-01-19
One of the best.
This is a series for people who don't know the America Classics and want to listen to a great overview and explanation from an amazing professor who could be a professional narrator.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Allyson
- 01-08-24
Freud Would Have Been Proud
This lecturer had some very odd pronunciations of common words which distracted me from his message. He seemed to find sexual innuendo in every piece of literature to the point that after a while I just lost interest.
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- Carl Palmateer
- 05-17-19
Classic what?
This should properly be titled "Classic Authors, Poets and Playwrights of American Literature" since that is the focus. The Professor points out that many of the writings he examines are little known or unknown works that he picked to help highlight the people. Even when he sets a lecture on a specific work it is usually viewed through the lens of what it shows about the writer. The irony is that when he does actually deal with a text there is good stuff but its more like 4-8 hours not 43 hours.
Production/performance is very uneven. First of all Great Courses, I know who you are, I know what the course is. I don't need to be told about you every 10 lectures nor do I need the introduction to the course to be repeated with it.
This is recorded with an audience which I can live with, some people do better with one but I have to listen to every dropped object, rustled paper, stirring soul because the Prof has a habit of dropping his voice to a whisper at odd intervals (or turning away from the mics, I'm not sure) so the volume has to be turned way up, and you still aren't able to make out what he says. Is this a classroom device to bring the students to the front?
The speaking is uneven. Lecture after lecture will go fine then he's suddenly using a bunch of fill words (uh, um, etc) and repeating syllables (it it it, th th th, etc) its not a stammer but more like he's lost the train of thought and is searching for words. Its jarring since its either completely absent or all in. Other times I want to get him a glass of water for the coughing or dryness of throat. Was this an early course and Great Courses hadn't learned about being able to retake, pause, edit and so on?
From a personal quirk the many mispronunciations are endearing. Having grown up doing far more reading than talking I too often mispronounce words. You don't often realize the commonness of the problem since those who have this problem are rarely caught speaking.
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11 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Karen Dulek
- 06-20-19
Never read the classics in the past
Decided to read the classics that I didn't when I was younger. These lectures were very helpful in understanding the books and helped me choose which classics I will now add to my listening list.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Fredonna Walker
- 04-05-19
A great introduction to American Lit
It took me a while to get through this one because I listened to each one of the books Weinstein presented (or, in the case of the plays, watched them) and then listened to the lectures about it. Weinstein is very knowledgeable and has a smooth lecture style that will hook you. As a result of this study, I learned a lot, grew as a person, and had fun doing it. This is one of the best things I’ve done this year.
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1 person found this helpful