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Independence Day
- Frank Bascombe, Book 2
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 20 hrs and 23 mins
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Publisher's summary
Pulitzer Prize Winner, Fiction 1996
Hailed as a major American novel, Independence Day is a relentlessly thoughtful, heart-wrenching, yet hilarious portrait of an ordinary American man. Wickedly realistic details and dialog entice you to see modern life filtered through the first-person narrator's complex and evolving consciousness. Apparently directionless since his divorce, Frank Bascombe migrates from one non-committal relationship to another. He freely indulges his tendencies to self absorption, over-intellectualization, and neurotic ambivalence. But all of that changes one fateful Fourth of July weekend, when, armed with the Declaration of Independence, he embarks on a mission to save his troubled teenaged son.
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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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The Strange Case
- By: Derek Kolstad, Mitali Jahagirdar, Laurie Kirwan-Ashman, and others
- Narrated by: Vanessa Kirby, David Oyelowo, Sofie Gråbøl, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 9 mins
- Original Recording
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Dr. Jekyll (Vanessa Kirby) is an elite international specialist in energy systems, working closely with her handler Louis (David Oyelowo) in a career that takes her across the globe to politically volatile territories such as Iran and North Korea. But when an arms dealer accuses her of having killed his family, Dr. Jekyll begins to question details of her life, who Louis really is, and whether her strange recurring dream has a greater meaning. She enlists the help of psychologist Sigrun (Sofie Gråbøl), and together they delve into Dr. Jekyll’s darker other side, a brutal assassin named… Hyde.
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Love the Originals !!
- By r2coder on 08-04-24
By: Derek Kolstad, and others
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The Cut
- By: Richard Armitage
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage, Jacob Dudman
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
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Welcome to Barton Mallet, a remote village in the Midlands that has been chosen as the unlikely location for a new feature film from Hollywood producer Max Crow. Teenagers from the local drama group are encouraged to audition for a story about the trials and tribulations of growing up. Benjamin Knot, the CEO of a well-known architecture firm, discovers that his children, Lily and Nathan, have each been offered a role. But Barton Mallet has a deep wound that has never truly healed.
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Hard to get into
- By felicialeash on 09-15-24
By: Richard Armitage
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Depressing! Watse of a credit!
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The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie’s once-lucrative car business is going under—but Dickie is spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife, Imelda, is selling off her jewelry on eBay and half-heartedly dodging the attention of fast-talking cattle farmer Big Mike, while their teenage daughter, Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge drink her way through her final exams. As for twelve-year-old PJ, he’s on the brink of running away.
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Bone Clocks meets Jonathan Franzen
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America is a barren landscape of smoldering ashes, devoid of life except for those people still struggling to scratch out some type of existence. Amidst this destruction, a father and his young son walk, always toward the coast, but with no real understanding that circumstances will improve once they arrive. Still, they persevere, and their relationship comes to represent goodness in a world of utter devastation.
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ARE YOU CARRYING THE FIRE?
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The Overstory
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- Unabridged
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The Overstory unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fable that range from antebellum New York to the late 20th-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. An air force loadmaster in the Vietnam War is shot out of the sky, then saved by falling into a banyan. An artist inherits 100 years of photographic portraits, all of the same doomed American chestnut. A hard-partying undergraduate in the late 1980s electrocutes herself, dies, and is sent back into life by creatures of air and light.
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eye opening
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What listeners say about Independence Day
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- JennEric
- 04-17-16
Certainly not deserving of the Pulitzer!
Descriptive, eloquently well written but flat and a bit boring. Are the characters interesting ? is this a story worth reading about? Not really!
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- Luke Christiano
- 08-23-16
Everyman
I loved the ability to capture a common man and bring him through his typical American life in such an articulate and emotional manner. I would never dream of spending pages on seemingly endless monotonous activity with such a riveting style. I had trouble taking breaks from the flow of the narrative and narrator. Superb.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Evan Perlo
- 02-06-15
Outstanding narrator
This is the kind of reading voice that makes audiobooks a uniquely pleasurable and enriching art form. A great piece of writing enhanced by an exceptional reader.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Linda B.
- 07-18-12
Enjoyable and thought provoking but too long
After reading "Canada" I downloaded this book. This was very different in style. I did enjoy it but found it repetitive and overly long.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Hatfield Frank
- 03-24-16
outstanding
the author is a master of character development and insights into human nature. highly recommended
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1 person found this helpful
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- KylePs80
- 08-25-15
A Typical Man's Typical Weekend, Flecked with Moments of True Beauty
Read this book if you want to understand how middle-aged, introspective, divorced men find beauty and the will to go on despite the common man's worty and mundane existence. Do not read this book if you're not willing to tolerate the narrative passing through as many hours as the recording is long (or nearly). I loved every minute of it. The voice and language are works of true artistry and the narrator is incredible.
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2 people found this helpful
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- MS
- 07-19-20
Fantastic
A great book. I’ve read it twice and now listened to it twice. Richard Ford is an astoundingly gifted writer and Frank Bascombe is a terrifically depicted character.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Bv5678
- 01-07-09
Great Book - Great Narrator
Another great book from Richard Ford. Every one in the Frank Bascombe series is excellent. I don't understand how every review is not 4-5 stars. If I'm not mistaken it won the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN-Faulkner Award. Richard Poe's narration is excellent too.
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17 people found this helpful
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- David Giard
- 06-24-23
Ford successfully continues the story of nihilist
"Independence Day" by Richard Ford
We first met Frank Bascombe in Richard Ford's 1986 novel "The Sportswriter." Ford returned to the character in 1995 with "Independence Day."
Frank is older and has left the world of sportswriting to become a real estate agent in New Jersey suburbia. He has a decent career, an ex-wife, a pretty girlfriend, a stable financial situation, a nice home (bought from his ex-wife), and a troubled teenage son.
While this book provides no straightforward plot, it takes the reader through a holiday weekend inside and outside Frank's mind as he navigates the different parts of his life.
He begins by showing houses to a prospective customer who cannot make up his mind after dozens of showings and accuses Frank of everything from dishonesty to homosexuality.
We see Frank struggle with his romantic relationship. Girlfriend Sally does not know how to handle Frank's attempts to keep her at arm's length.
We see his frustration with his ex-wife, who has remarried a man that both Frank and his son Paul abhor.
And we travel with Frank and Paul to the Basketball and Baseball Halls of Fame as they try and fail to establish a decent father-son bond.
Ford creates a memorable character and reveals that character through his thoughts. The entire book is written in the first person and the present tense, giving readers the impression they are eavesdropping on Frank's thoughts as they pass through his mind. Frank is drifting through his privileged life, trying to convince himself that he is content.
Outwardly, Frank is calm and polite - even to those who are rude and abusive. He almost always says the right thing; when he does not, he is immediately aware of his mistake. But inwardly, he despises nearly everyone, holding them in contempt. He is a nihilist who observes and interprets the world but seems to exist outside of it. He combines cynicism and angst so that the reader feels sympathy for him. A lifelong Democrat, Frank is frustrated by the poor 1988 campaign run by Michael Dukakis (Historical Note: Bush handily defeated Dukakis in the fall election.)
Anyone else would long since have abandoned the racist, unreasonable husband who refuses to like any of the houses Frank shows him, but Frank takes it all in stride.
The road trip with the intelligent but troubled son is the most interesting part of the story. Paul has been disruptive and violent lately, including assaulting a security guard and striking his stepfather with an oar. Paul shows symptoms of autism and Tourette syndrome. His nearly constant sarcasm places him on the wrong side of the line between funny and annoying.
Frank attempts to connect with him, but his own faults make this problematic. The father is self-absorbed and indecisive. Within 36 hours, Frank considers asking his ex-wife to remarry him, confesses his love to his girlfriend, tries to pick up the young chef at a Cooperstown motel, and drunk dials his old sweetheart.
The story finishes on July 4 - American Independence Day - but it is also about Frank's struggle for Independence from his past.
"Independence Day" won Ford the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. It is a classic episodic novel told with humor and sensitivity.
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- Mark Langley
- 07-04-24
excellent novel
you'll see why it won a pulitzer prize. good conflicts. interior view of life in middle age.
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