
Part Swan, Part Goose
An Uncommon Memoir of Womanhood, Work, and Family
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $15.75
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Swoosie Kurtz
About this listen
In a wise, warmhearted memoir that celebrates her extraordinary life and stellar career, Swoosie Kurtz shares just the right combination of personal misadventure and showbiz lore, candidly reflecting on the right choices that empowered her, the wrong choices that enlightened her, and the intimate journey of caring for an aging parent.
Animating this remarkable memoir is Swoosie’s relationship with her equally remarkable parents. Her father, Frank, was an Olympic athlete and highly decorated World War II airman. He flew a record number of missions in a cobbled-together B-17D called the Swoose. Her mother, Margo, was the quintessential military wife but with the spunk and will to match her husband’s. Her 1945 memoir, My Rival, the Sky, chronicled their lives up to the time of the birth of their daughter.
Today, Margo, who is fast approaching her 100th birthday, lives with Swoosie. And Swoosie’s life has become a precarious and precious balancing act as she struggles to stay ahead of her mother’s increasing needs while navigating a showbiz career that keeps one foot in Hollywood and the other on Broadway.
©2014 Swoosie Kurtz and Joni Rodgers (P)2014 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Vanishing Acts
- By: Jodi Picoult
- Narrated by: Jim Jenner, Robert Ramierez, Sharon Washington, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her widowed father, Andrew, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiancé, and her own search-and-rescue bloodhound, which she uses to find missing persons. But as Delia plans her wedding, she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can't recall. And then a policeman knocks on her door, revealing a secret that changes the world as she knows it.
-
-
Two things that trouble me about this book.
- By KJ on 07-27-18
By: Jodi Picoult
-
Call Your Daughter Home
- By: Deb Spera
- Narrated by: Robin Miles, Adenrele Ojo, Brittany Pressley
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1924 in Branchville, South Carolina, and three women have come to a crossroads. Gertrude, a mother of four, must make an unconscionable decision to save her daughters. Retta, a first-generation freed slave, comes to Gertrude's aid by watching her children, despite the gossip it causes in her community. Annie, the matriarch of the influential Coles family, offers Gertrude employment at her sewing circle, while facing problems of her own at home.
-
-
Lovely story/perfect narration
- By christi mccoy on 07-08-19
By: Deb Spera
-
Breakfast with Buddha
- A Novel
- By: Roland Merullo
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When his sister tricks him into taking her guru on a trip to their childhood home, Otto Ringling, a confirmed skeptic, is not amused. Six days on the road with an enigmatic holy man who answers every question with a riddle is not what he'd planned. But in an effort to westernize his passenger---and amuse himself---he decides to show the monk some "American fun" along the way.
-
-
a thoughtful and often hilarious journey
- By Mary McCarthy on 09-15-11
By: Roland Merullo
-
A Billion Years
- My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology
- By: Mike Rinder
- Narrated by: Mike Rinder
- Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mike Rinder’s parents began taking him to their local Scientology center when he was five years old. After high school, he signed a billion-year contract and was admitted into Scientology’s elite inner circle, the Sea Organization. Brought to founder L. Ron Hubbard’s yacht and promised training in Hubbard’s most advanced techniques, Rinder was instead put to work swabbing the decks. Still, Rinder bought into the doctrine that his personal comfort was secondary to the higher purpose of Hubbard’s world-saving mission.
-
-
From a former SO Child
- By Chantal on 09-29-22
By: Mike Rinder
-
The Mother of Black Hollywood
- A Memoir
- By: Jenifer Lewis
- Narrated by: Jenifer Lewis
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jenifer Lewis keeps it real in this provocative and touching memoir by a Midwestern girl with a dream whose journey from poverty to Hollywood will move, shock, and inspire listeners. Told in the audacious voice her fans adore, Jenifer describes a road to fame made treacherous by dysfunction and undiagnosed mental illness, including a sex addiction. Yet, supported by loving friends and strengthened by "inner soldiers", Jenifer never stopped entertaining and creating.
-
-
I could barely finish it.
- By Manning Fam on 06-17-18
By: Jenifer Lewis
-
Yes Please
- By: Amy Poehler
- Narrated by: Amy Poehler, Carol Burnett, Seth Meyers, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amy Poehler is hosting a dinner party and you're invited! Welcome to the audiobook edition of Amy Poehler's Yes Please. The guest list is star-studded with vocal appearances from Carol Burnett, Seth Meyers, Michael Schur, Patrick Stewart, Kathleen Turner, and even Amy’s parents - Yes Please is the ultimate audiobook extravaganza.
-
-
Listen to this book for sure
- By S.F. on 10-31-14
By: Amy Poehler
-
Vanishing Acts
- By: Jodi Picoult
- Narrated by: Jim Jenner, Robert Ramierez, Sharon Washington, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her widowed father, Andrew, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiancé, and her own search-and-rescue bloodhound, which she uses to find missing persons. But as Delia plans her wedding, she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can't recall. And then a policeman knocks on her door, revealing a secret that changes the world as she knows it.
-
-
Two things that trouble me about this book.
- By KJ on 07-27-18
By: Jodi Picoult
-
Call Your Daughter Home
- By: Deb Spera
- Narrated by: Robin Miles, Adenrele Ojo, Brittany Pressley
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1924 in Branchville, South Carolina, and three women have come to a crossroads. Gertrude, a mother of four, must make an unconscionable decision to save her daughters. Retta, a first-generation freed slave, comes to Gertrude's aid by watching her children, despite the gossip it causes in her community. Annie, the matriarch of the influential Coles family, offers Gertrude employment at her sewing circle, while facing problems of her own at home.
-
-
Lovely story/perfect narration
- By christi mccoy on 07-08-19
By: Deb Spera
-
Breakfast with Buddha
- A Novel
- By: Roland Merullo
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When his sister tricks him into taking her guru on a trip to their childhood home, Otto Ringling, a confirmed skeptic, is not amused. Six days on the road with an enigmatic holy man who answers every question with a riddle is not what he'd planned. But in an effort to westernize his passenger---and amuse himself---he decides to show the monk some "American fun" along the way.
-
-
a thoughtful and often hilarious journey
- By Mary McCarthy on 09-15-11
By: Roland Merullo
-
A Billion Years
- My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology
- By: Mike Rinder
- Narrated by: Mike Rinder
- Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mike Rinder’s parents began taking him to their local Scientology center when he was five years old. After high school, he signed a billion-year contract and was admitted into Scientology’s elite inner circle, the Sea Organization. Brought to founder L. Ron Hubbard’s yacht and promised training in Hubbard’s most advanced techniques, Rinder was instead put to work swabbing the decks. Still, Rinder bought into the doctrine that his personal comfort was secondary to the higher purpose of Hubbard’s world-saving mission.
-
-
From a former SO Child
- By Chantal on 09-29-22
By: Mike Rinder
-
The Mother of Black Hollywood
- A Memoir
- By: Jenifer Lewis
- Narrated by: Jenifer Lewis
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jenifer Lewis keeps it real in this provocative and touching memoir by a Midwestern girl with a dream whose journey from poverty to Hollywood will move, shock, and inspire listeners. Told in the audacious voice her fans adore, Jenifer describes a road to fame made treacherous by dysfunction and undiagnosed mental illness, including a sex addiction. Yet, supported by loving friends and strengthened by "inner soldiers", Jenifer never stopped entertaining and creating.
-
-
I could barely finish it.
- By Manning Fam on 06-17-18
By: Jenifer Lewis
-
Yes Please
- By: Amy Poehler
- Narrated by: Amy Poehler, Carol Burnett, Seth Meyers, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amy Poehler is hosting a dinner party and you're invited! Welcome to the audiobook edition of Amy Poehler's Yes Please. The guest list is star-studded with vocal appearances from Carol Burnett, Seth Meyers, Michael Schur, Patrick Stewart, Kathleen Turner, and even Amy’s parents - Yes Please is the ultimate audiobook extravaganza.
-
-
Listen to this book for sure
- By S.F. on 10-31-14
By: Amy Poehler
-
A Life in Parts
- By: Bryan Cranston
- Narrated by: Bryan Cranston
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bryan Cranston landed his first role at seven, when his father, a struggling actor and director, cast him in a United Way commercial. Soon Bryan was haunting the local movie theater, memorizing and reenacting favorite scenes with his older brother. Acting was clearly the boy's destiny - until one day his father disappeared. Suddenly destiny took a backseat to survival. Seeking something more stable, perhaps subconsciously trying to distance himself from his absent father, Cranston decided on a career in law enforcement.
-
-
They're all good parts.
- By Shopsfromeverywhere on 10-23-16
By: Bryan Cranston
-
Stories I Only Tell My Friends
- An Autobiography
- By: Rob Lowe
- Narrated by: Rob Lowe
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A teen idol at 15, an international icon and founder of the Brat Pack at 20, and one of Hollywood's top stars to this day, Rob Lowe chronicles his experiences. Never mean-spirited or salacious, Lowe delivers unexpected glimpses into his successes, disappointments, relationships, and one-of-a-kind encounters with people who shaped our world over the last 25 years. These stories are as entertaining as they are unforgettable.
-
-
Great Book and Great Story
- By Natalie J. Belle MD on 04-30-11
By: Rob Lowe
-
The Girl on the Balcony
- By: Olivia Hussey, Alexander Martin, Franco Zeffirelli - foreword
- Narrated by: Carol Monda
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this candid memoir, Olivia Hussey tells her story - from being an "It Girl" in swinging '60s London and her enduring friendship with Romeo & Juliet costar Leonard Whiting, through three tumultuous marriages - including one with Dean Martin's son, Dino - motherhood, stage-four breast cancer, debilitating agoraphobia, bankruptcy, and ultimately, a journey of self-discovery in India that led her on a path to fulfillment. Featuring a foreword by her star-making director Franco Zeffirelli, Olivia Hussey's memoir shines with her luminous spirit and perseverance.
-
-
Ugh
- By Harry and Sam on 01-23-19
By: Olivia Hussey, and others
-
In Pieces
- By: Sally Field
- Narrated by: Sally Field
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this intimate, haunting, literary memoir read by the author, an American icon tells her story for the first time, in her own gorgeous words - about a challenging and lonely childhood, the craft that helped her find her voice, and a powerful emotional legacy that shaped her journey as a daughter and a mother.
-
-
Riveting Life Story of Sally Field's
- By DAW on 09-20-18
By: Sally Field
-
The Princess Diarist
- By: Carrie Fisher
- Narrated by: Carrie Fisher, Billie Lourd
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Carrie Fisher recently discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved—plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Today, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon is indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a teenager with an all-consuming crush on her costar, Harrison Ford.
-
-
Come for the headlines, stay for the whole story
- By JOSEPH on 12-06-16
By: Carrie Fisher
-
I Must Say
- My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend
- By: Martin Short
- Narrated by: Martin Short
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Martin Short takes you on a rich, hilarious, and occasionally heartbreaking ride through his life and times, from his early years in Toronto as a member of the fabled improvisational troupe Second City to the all-American comic big time of Saturday Night Live and memorable roles in movies such as ¡Three Amigos! and Father of the Bride.
-
-
This is what audio books were made for!
- By Ty Brady on 11-06-14
By: Martin Short
-
Love Life
- By: Rob Lowe
- Narrated by: Rob Lowe
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Love Life serves up another delicious selection of intimate stories and observations from Rob Lowe's life, told with humor, warmth, and brutal honesty. After writing his acclaimed debut effort, Lowe felt he had more stories to share and many more friends to introduce. The result is a touching memoir about the business and craft of acting, the pitfalls of success, family, love, and much more.
-
-
Open, Honest, Sentimental... not quite as Intimate
- By Kelly on 01-07-16
By: Rob Lowe
-
Mean Baby
- A Memoir of Growing Up
- By: Selma Blair
- Narrated by: Selma Blair
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first story Selma Blair Beitner ever heard about herself is that she was a mean, mean baby. With her mouth pulled in a perpetual snarl and a head so furry it had to be rubbed to make way for her forehead, Selma spent years living up to her terrible reputation: biting her sisters, lying spontaneously, getting drunk from Passover wine at the age of seven, and behaving dramatically so that she would be the center of attention. In a memoir that is as wildly funny as it is emotionally shattering, Blair tells the captivating story of growing up and finding her truth.
-
-
Poor little privileged girl...
- By Tesa Fisher on 09-20-22
By: Selma Blair
-
Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography
- By: Neil Patrick Harris
- Narrated by: Neil Patrick Harris
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This hilarious book has been adapted especially for the audiobook edition so you’ll hear all of the same fun and humor from the printed version but you don’t have to make any decisions or jump around - just kick back, relax and listen. Plus, it features exclusive bonus audio of young Neil delivering an adorable speech! That’s audio you won’t hear in any version of this book other than the audiobook!
-
-
No Magic...just great delivery
- By Mel on 12-03-14
-
Nevertheless
- A Memoir
- By: Alec Baldwin
- Narrated by: Alec Baldwin
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most accomplished and outspoken actors today chronicles the highs and lows of his life in this beautifully written, candid memoir.
-
-
Embarrassingly petty
- By Stacey Robinson on 09-20-18
By: Alec Baldwin
-
I Was Better Last Night
- A Memoir
- By: Harvey Fierstein
- Narrated by: Harvey Fierstein
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harvey Fierstein’s legendary career has transported him from community theater in Brooklyn, to the lights of Broadway, to the absurd excesses of Hollywood and back. He’s received accolades and awards for acting in and/or writing an incredible string of hit plays, films, and TV shows.
-
-
Loved it
- By Mary Ellen Guadagno on 03-09-22
By: Harvey Fierstein
-
The Facts of My Life
- By: Charlotte Rae, Larry Strauss
- Narrated by: Charlotte Rae, Punch Audio
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Memoir of actress Charlotte Rae.
-
-
Facts of life show barely mentioned!
- By Florida Barb on 04-25-20
By: Charlotte Rae, and others
Critic reviews
"I laughed and cried (sometimes at the same time) reading this extraordinary story about Swoosie and her parents and her work and her loves. Swoosie has the beautiful gift of a seasoned story teller. Her observations about love and loss had me dog-earing several pages to re-read again and again. I feel blessed to know her.”(Carol Burnett)
"The Tony Award-winning actress certainly relates a lot of great anecdotes from her long career on the Broadway stage, in films and on such popular TV shows as Sisters, Pushing Daisies and her current hit, Mike & Molly. Yet, her book, co-authored by writer Joni Rodgers, is also a remarkable journal about Kurtz’s extremely close relationship with her parents, and is a compelling saga about her recent journey as a loving caregiver for her mother as she’s slipped into depths of dementia." (Chicago Sun Times)
“Comedic timing always has been Kurtz’s hallmark and in Part Swan, Part Goose, she proves she can write a line as humorously as she can deliver one. The book crackles with wit. The book lists Joni Rodgers as a co-author, but the candor, clever turns-of-phrase and hilarity seem very Kurtz-like.” (The Buffalo News)
What listeners say about Part Swan, Part Goose
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sher from Provo
- 05-24-16
A good memoir
As memoirs go, this one was good. It would have been so-so had it not been for Kurtz' relationship with her mother, Margo. I took care of my own mother until she passed away at age 91, so it is easy to identify with the things Kurtz went through. Even though towards the end my mom had a hard time doing things for herself, I would have her back in a heartbeat if I could. I miss her every day. I miss her sweet influence in my house, and I miss her touch. That is basically what this book is about. We love our moms and have a hard time without them.
I found other aspects of the book interesting and entertaining even though I have never seen any of Kurtz' movies or TV shows. I'm sure she is a wonderful actress.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nick G.
- 05-22-18
Love this woman and love this book!
I truly appreciated the candor in the writing of this book and hearing about Swoosie’s experience over her decades.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!