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Marlene Dietrich
- The Life
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 33 hrs and 32 mins
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Publisher's summary
With intimate detail, author Maria Riva reveals the rich life of her mother, Marlene Dietrich, the charismatic star of stage and screen whose career spanned much of the 20th century. Opening with Dietrich's childhood in Schöneberg, Riva's biography introduces us to an energetic, disciplined, and ambitious young actress whose own mother equated show business with a world of vagabonds and thieves.
Dietrich would quickly rise to stardom on the Berlin stage in the 1920s with her sharp wit and bisexual mystique, and wearing the top hat and tails that revolutionized our concept of beauty and femininity. She comes alive in these pages in all her incarnations: muse, collaborator, bona fide movie star, box-office poison, lover, wife, and mother.
During World War II, Dietrich would stand up to the Nazis and galvanize American troops, eventually earning the Congressional Medal of Freedom. There were her artistic relationships with Josef von Sternberg (The Blue Angel, Morocco, Shanghai Express), Colette, Erich Maria Remarque, Noël Coward, and Cole Porter, as well as her heady romances. And in her final years, Dietrich would make herself visibly invisible, devoting herself to the immortality of her legend.
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- Narrated by: Maggie Ollerenshaw
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Queenie is only 14 and has been deserted by her mother. Set in Liverpool and Wales at the outbreak of World War II, this story explores themes of female friendship and betrayal from the perspective of a group of women of widely different ages.
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Entertaining
- By W on 05-27-08
By: Maureen Lee
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The Pursuit of Love
- Radlett and Montdore Trilogy Series, Book 1
- By: Nancy Mitford
- Narrated by: Bessie Carter
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Mitford's most enduringly popular novel, The Pursuit of Love, is a classic comedy about growing up and falling in love among the privileged and eccentric. Mitford modeled her characters on her own famously unconventional family. We are introduced to the Radletts through the eyes of their cousin, Fanny, who stays with them at Alconleigh, their Gloucestershire estate. Uncle Matthew is the blustering patriarch; Aunt Sadie is the vague but doting mother; and the seven Radlett children, despite the delights of their unusual childhood, are recklessly eager to grow up.
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Unlistenable
- By Michael on 10-17-21
By: Nancy Mitford
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Virgins of Paradise
- By: Barbara Wood
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 19 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Jasmine and Camelia Rasheed grow to womanhood under the watchful eye of their grandmother inside the walls surrounding a beautiful house on Virgins of Paradise Street in exotic Cairo. They come of age in society in which the subjugation of women is assumed - they must wear veils, are forbidden to leave the house, have no independent rights, and are circumcised to ensure purity and obedience.
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eye opening
- By C Ohana on 11-13-08
By: Barbara Wood
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Dropped Names
- Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them
- By: Frank Langella
- Narrated by: Frank Langella
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Captured forever in a unique memoir, Frank Langella's myriad encounters with some of the past century's most famous human beings are profoundly affecting, funny, wicked, sometimes shocking, and utterly irresistible. With sharp wit and a perceptive eye, Mr. Langella takes us with him into the private worlds and privileged lives of movie stars, presidents, royalty, literary lions, the social elite, and the greats of the Broadway stage.
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Delightful
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The Godmothers
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- By: Camille Aubray
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
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Meet the Godmothers: Filomena is a clever and resourceful war refugee with a childhood secret, who comes to America to wed Mario, the family's favored son. Amie, a beautiful and dreamy French girl from upstate New York, escapes an abusive husband after falling in love with Johnny, the oldest of the brothers. Lucy, a tough-as-nails Irish nurse, ran away from a strict girls' home and marries Frankie, the sensuous middle son. And the glamorous Petrina, the family's only daughter, graduates with honors from Barnard College despite a past trauma that nearly caused a family scandal.
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Easy Enjoyable Read
- By Bunny on 06-23-21
By: Camille Aubray
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The Little Princesses
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- By: Marion Crawford, Jennie Bond - foreword
- Narrated by: Sophie Roberts
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Originally published in 1950, The Little Princesses was the first account of British Royal life inside Buckingham Palace as revealed by Marion Crawford, who served as governess to princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.
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The Beginnig of My Interest on the Royal Family
- By A. Bauza Higuera on 12-30-22
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Tomorrow Will Be Better
- By: Betty Smith
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Tomorrow Will Be Better tells the story of Margy Shannon, a shy but joyfully optimistic young woman just out of school who lives with her parents and witnesses how a lifetime of hard work, poverty, and pain has worn them down. Her mother's resentment toward being a housewife and her father's inability to express his emotions result in a tense home life where Margy has no voice. Unable to speak up against her overbearing mother, Margy takes refuge in her dreams of a better life.
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Heartfelt and Heart-wrenchingly Real!
- By M. Ryder on 02-16-22
By: Betty Smith
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Lady in Waiting
- My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown
- By: Anne Glenconner
- Narrated by: Anne Glenconner
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
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Anne Glenconner has been at the center of the royal circle from childhood, when she met and befriended the future Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, the Princess Margaret. Though the firstborn child of the fifth Earl of Leicester, who controlled one of the largest estates in England, as a daughter she was deemed "the greatest disappointment" and unable to inherit. Since then she has needed all her resilience to survive court life with her sense of humor intact.
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Horrible Reading
- By Teddy hall on 03-27-20
By: Anne Glenconner
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Tempest-tost
- The Salterton Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Robertson Davies
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
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An amateur production of The Tempest provides a colorful backdrop for a hilarious look at unrequited love. Mathematics teacher Hector Mackilwraith, stirred and troubled by Shakespeare's play, falls in love with the beautiful Griselda Webster. When Griselda shows she has plans of her own, Hector despairs on the play's opening night.
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First of the first (and shows it)
- By Mary on 12-22-09
By: Robertson Davies
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What listeners say about Marlene Dietrich
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Leann S. Baptista
- 07-05-22
A very detailed lengthy story of an icon
I enjoyed this book. Towards the end it seemed a bit too long. SO much detail. I do feel I have a glimpse of this icon. Very interesting as it spoke of many celebrities, presidents, the Queen Mary, (early 1900-90’s.
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- Domenick Naccarato
- 09-24-23
Unbelievably Great !!!
Just written so well and your totally involved with the story. Just try it, trust me !!!
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-05-21
An Amazing Biography
Not only probably the best biography of a Hollywood star but a biography of the 20th century. How things moved, felt and how it all ultimately falls apart. Sad and beautiful. Only someone who lived it could bring this story to life as Maria Riva did and does.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-21-21
What a Character, What a Saintly Patient & Intelligent Daughter
Maria Riva deserves not only a Medal of Honor for surviving her self-absorbed, tornado-of-destruction of a mother, but also should be lauded for her incredible talent as a writer. Throughout the highly-entertaining book, I found myself wanting to jot down some of her beautifully worded prose, to revisit and soak in at a later time.
More than anything, I was impressed with Riva’s keen, razor-sharp sense of humor and appreciation of the absurd - both qualities she clearly inherited from her mother. Riva’s, however, is manifested with humanity and class, without the cruel, downright meanness (and lack of respect and graciousness) of the vapid legend.
Excellent audio performance on this one, as well. The actor really captured the tone and personalities of both mother and daughter. Highly recommended!. Please write more, Ms. Riva!
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3 people found this helpful
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- john burke
- 12-06-20
Wow
I mean wow! This book by Maria Riva is startling in it's length, depth and insights. Beautifully written as well. For such subject matter finding the right narrator is so difficult and Christa Lewis does and AMAZING job.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Paul
- 03-29-22
Marvelous and Troubling
This book couldn't be more personal and thorough if it had been drafted by her shadow. In some sense, that was the author's role. Beyond Dietrich and Riva's own memories are all the artifacts a biographer would dream of possessing: first person accounts, diaries, photographs, telegrams and letters -- to and from Marlene and her many lovers, female and male. She planned for her daughter to write this and gave Maria total access. You will live Marlene's life from privileged start to unimaginable finish. A thunderous standing ovation to the narrator who seems to speak without need for pause for 33 hours with arresting, gentle, lulling tones. It's a masterful accomplishment to pour through so many painful and scandalous true-life tales with such delicacy. It works in large measure because the writing is enthralling. The whole romantic story of her mother and Maria's unromantic relationship to the legend. Aspects of this tale are disturbing, reprehensible, captivating, sexy, and fantastic.
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-18-23
Phenomenal
The story of Dietrich & Maria’s life is one like I’ve never heard. Her writing style is so intricate, you truly feel as if you’re with Maria as she tells her story. The narration is spot on, and could not have been done better by Marlene herself. Maria, seemed to be the only adult in the room, even as a child. What an incredible story.
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- Person Buying Stuff
- 03-15-21
Excellent
Maria's book tells multiple stories woven into one: Dietrich's career, surrounding culture and history (notably WW1 & WW2), and Maria's story. The filmography and history is very interesting, but what makes this an excellent book to me is Maria's story. I was particularly compelled by Maria's conveying her complicated experience of her mother as an adult. Maria conveyed so well the struggle of having a complicated (I would say Narcissistic Personality, although to be clear Maria never labeled her mother as such) parent, and the experience of loving, despising, admiring, fearing, hating, and feel great compassion for that complicated parent. Frankly, as someone with a complicated parent, I found Maria's writing especially touching and compelling.
As a reader I really admired Dietrich's many strengths and achievements, hated her cruelty, pitied her shallowness, and felt empathy for Maria, and admired Maria's strengths. Maria's story feels honest. I walk away both admiring and despising Dietrich, the legend. I also got a few history lessons, which were very well written and I'll be likely to remember!
The narrator did a superb job as well. Overall a very good listen.
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- shopoholic
- 06-27-23
Very interesting
So detailed. It is long and drawn out but amazing! How Riva remembers everything. Lots of names and good gossip
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- Rachel Tempchin
- 08-16-23
Excellent
Loved this story! Who knew she was such a complicated woman. Her daughter seemed like a saint compared to both her parents.
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