Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Prater Violet

By: Christopher Isherwood
Narrated by: J. Paul Boehmer
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.82

Buy for $13.82

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Isherwood's story centers on the production of the vacuous fictional melodrama Prater Violet, set in 19th-century Vienna, providing ironic counterpoint to tragic events as Hitler annexes the real Vienna of the 1930s. The novel features the vivid portraits of imperious, passionate, and witty Austrian director Friedrich Bergmann and his disciple, a genial young screenwriter: the fictionalized Christopher Isherwood.

©1945 Original material © 1945, renewed 1973 by Christopher Isherwood. Recorded by arrangement with Donadio & Olson, Inc. (P)2009 (p) 2009 HighBridge Company
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

" Prater Violet, in my view, is one of the best short novels in English written in this century." (Stanley Kauffmann)
" Prater Violet is the most charming novel I have read in a long time...a novel about movie writers, which is yet a novel about the life of every serious artist." (Diana Trilling)
"A deliberate historical parable. Prater Violet resembles the episodes in Goodbye to Berlin and keeps up the same high level of excellence." (Edmund Wilson)

What listeners say about Prater Violet

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An Overlooked Isherwood

Isherwood never really gets his due. He's too subtle, self-effacing, and writes in what appears to be effortless prose. This short masterpiece is out of the Goodbye to Berlin playbook in that it is pre-WWII and involves a character named "Christopher Isherwood" and a lot of memorable minor players. It's a great book about making movies. The director character is completely unforgettable. It's like a short hike with a great view at the end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful