Shakespeare Saved My Life
Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard
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
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Cassandra Campbell
-
By:
-
Laura Bates
About this listen
Shakespeare professor and prison volunteer Laura Bates thought she had seen it all. That is until she decided to teach Shakespeare in a place the bard had never been before - supermax solitary confinement. In this unwelcoming place, surrounded by inmates known as the worst of the worst, is Larry Newton. A convicted murderer with several escape attempts under his belt and a brilliantly agile mind on his shoulders, Larry was trying to break out of prison at the same time Laura was fighting to get her program started behind bars. Thus begins the most unlikely of friendships, one bonded by Shakespeare and lasting years - a friendship that, in the end, would save more than one life.
©2013 Laura Bates (P)2015 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
Mad About Shakespeare
- From Classroom to Theatre to Emergency Room
- By: Jonathan Bate
- Narrated by: Jonathan Bate
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shakespeare’s world is never too far different from our own, permeated with the same tragedies, the same existential questions and domestic worries. In this extraordinary book, Jonathan Bate brings then and now together. He investigates moments of his own life—losses and challenges—and asks whether, if you persevere with Shakespeare, he can offer a word of wisdom or a human insight for any time or any crisis.
-
-
Splendid
- By International Roamer on 08-25-22
By: Jonathan Bate
-
Born Again
- What Really Happened to the White House Hatchet Man
- By: Charles Colson
- Narrated by: Jon Gauger
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1970s, against the backdrop of the explosive Watergate scandal, Charles Colson revealed the story of his own search for meaning during the tumultuous investigations that led to the collapse of the Nixon administration. A convicted former special counsel to the president, Colson paradoxically found new life - not with success and power, but while in national disgrace and serving a prison sentence.
-
-
Great Read
- By Cindy on 08-27-12
By: Charles Colson
-
Liberation Day
- Stories
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: George Saunders, Tina Fey, Michael McKean, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The “best short story writer in English” (Time) is back with a masterful collection that explores ideas of power, ethics, and justice, and cuts to the very heart of what it means to live in community with our fellow humans. With his trademark prose—wickedly funny, unsentimental, and perfectly tuned—Saunders continues to challenge and surprise: here is a collection of prismatic, deeply resonant stories that encompass joy and despair, oppression and revolution, bizarre fantasy and brutal reality.
-
-
Extraordinary
- By REBECCA on 10-18-22
By: George Saunders
-
This Is How It Always Is
- A Novel
- By: Laurie Frankel
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Rosie and Penn and their four boys welcome the newest member of their family, no one is surprised it's another baby boy. At least their large, loving, chaotic family knows what to expect. But Claude is not like his brothers. One day he puts on a dress and refuses to take it off. He wants to bring a purse to kindergarten. He wants hair long enough to sit on. When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl.
-
-
Story mirrors our life -- to a point -- spoilers
- By 1mom3kids on 11-14-17
By: Laurie Frankel
-
Pandora's Jar
- Women in the Greek Myths
- By: Natalie Haynes
- Narrated by: Natalie Haynes
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The tellers of Greek myths—historically men—have routinely sidelined the female characters. When they do take a larger role, women are often portrayed as monstrous, vengeful or just plain evil—like Pandora, the woman of eternal scorn and damnation whose curiosity is tasked with causing all the world’s suffering and wickedness when she opened that forbidden box. But, as Natalie Haynes reveals, in ancient Greek myths there was no box. It was a jar . . . which is far more likely to tip over.
-
-
The Golden Age Continues
- By Stefan Filipovits on 03-29-22
By: Natalie Haynes
-
These Precious Days
- Essays
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart.
-
-
Heartfelt Essays, Beautifully Performed
- By Brent Holcomb on 11-23-21
By: Ann Patchett
-
Mad About Shakespeare
- From Classroom to Theatre to Emergency Room
- By: Jonathan Bate
- Narrated by: Jonathan Bate
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shakespeare’s world is never too far different from our own, permeated with the same tragedies, the same existential questions and domestic worries. In this extraordinary book, Jonathan Bate brings then and now together. He investigates moments of his own life—losses and challenges—and asks whether, if you persevere with Shakespeare, he can offer a word of wisdom or a human insight for any time or any crisis.
-
-
Splendid
- By International Roamer on 08-25-22
By: Jonathan Bate
-
Born Again
- What Really Happened to the White House Hatchet Man
- By: Charles Colson
- Narrated by: Jon Gauger
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1970s, against the backdrop of the explosive Watergate scandal, Charles Colson revealed the story of his own search for meaning during the tumultuous investigations that led to the collapse of the Nixon administration. A convicted former special counsel to the president, Colson paradoxically found new life - not with success and power, but while in national disgrace and serving a prison sentence.
-
-
Great Read
- By Cindy on 08-27-12
By: Charles Colson
-
Liberation Day
- Stories
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: George Saunders, Tina Fey, Michael McKean, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The “best short story writer in English” (Time) is back with a masterful collection that explores ideas of power, ethics, and justice, and cuts to the very heart of what it means to live in community with our fellow humans. With his trademark prose—wickedly funny, unsentimental, and perfectly tuned—Saunders continues to challenge and surprise: here is a collection of prismatic, deeply resonant stories that encompass joy and despair, oppression and revolution, bizarre fantasy and brutal reality.
-
-
Extraordinary
- By REBECCA on 10-18-22
By: George Saunders
-
This Is How It Always Is
- A Novel
- By: Laurie Frankel
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Rosie and Penn and their four boys welcome the newest member of their family, no one is surprised it's another baby boy. At least their large, loving, chaotic family knows what to expect. But Claude is not like his brothers. One day he puts on a dress and refuses to take it off. He wants to bring a purse to kindergarten. He wants hair long enough to sit on. When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl.
-
-
Story mirrors our life -- to a point -- spoilers
- By 1mom3kids on 11-14-17
By: Laurie Frankel
-
Pandora's Jar
- Women in the Greek Myths
- By: Natalie Haynes
- Narrated by: Natalie Haynes
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The tellers of Greek myths—historically men—have routinely sidelined the female characters. When they do take a larger role, women are often portrayed as monstrous, vengeful or just plain evil—like Pandora, the woman of eternal scorn and damnation whose curiosity is tasked with causing all the world’s suffering and wickedness when she opened that forbidden box. But, as Natalie Haynes reveals, in ancient Greek myths there was no box. It was a jar . . . which is far more likely to tip over.
-
-
The Golden Age Continues
- By Stefan Filipovits on 03-29-22
By: Natalie Haynes
-
These Precious Days
- Essays
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart.
-
-
Heartfelt Essays, Beautifully Performed
- By Brent Holcomb on 11-23-21
By: Ann Patchett
-
The Elephant Whisperer
- My Life with the Herd in the African Wild
- By: Lawrence Anthony, Graham Spence
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
>When South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony was asked to accept a herd of "rogue" wild elephants on his Thula Thula game reserve in Zululand, his common sense told him to refuse. But he was the herd's last chance of survival: they would be killed if he wouldn't take them. In order to save their lives, Anthony took them in. In the years that followed he became a part of their family. And as he battled to create a bond with the elephants, he came to realize that they had a great deal to teach him about life, loyalty, and freedom.
-
-
Beautiful story, beautifully written
- By Tango on 01-12-13
By: Lawrence Anthony, and others
-
The Freedom Writers Diary
- How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them
- By: The Freedom Writers, Erin Gruwell
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman, Bahni Turpin, Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1994, an idealistic first-year teacher in Long Beach, California, named Erin Gruwell confronted a room of “unteachable, at-risk” students. She had intercepted a note with an ugly racial caricature and angrily declared that this was precisely the sort of thing that led to the Holocaust. She was met by uncomprehending looks - none of her students had heard of one of the defining moments of the 20th century. So she rebooted her entire curriculum, using treasured books such as Anne Frank’s diary as her guide to combat intolerance and misunderstanding.
-
-
Excellent Book
- By Anonymous User on 02-03-08
By: The Freedom Writers, and others
-
Einstein
- His Life and Universe
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 21 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why we think it’s a great listen: You thought he was a stodgy scientist with funny hair, but Isaacson and Hermann reveal an eloquent, intense, and selfless human being who not only shaped science with his theories, but politics and world events in the 20th century as well. Based on the newly released personal letters of Albert Einstein, Walter Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos.
-
-
Surprise: Two books in one!
- By Henrik on 04-20-07
By: Walter Isaacson
-
Hidden Figures
- The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race
- By: Margot Lee Shetterly
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before John Glenn orbited the Earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets and astronauts into space. Among these problem solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation.
-
-
Great Story of a History Obscured
- By Cynthia on 09-18-16
-
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
- By: Richard P. Feynman
- Narrated by: Raymond Todd
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With his characteristic eyebrow-raising behavior, Richard P. Feynman once provoked the wife of a Princeton dean to remark, "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!" But the many scientific and personal achievements of this Nobel Prize-winning physicist are no laughing matter. Here, woven with his scintillating views on modern science, Feynman relates the defining moments of his accomplished life.
-
-
Inspiring book, HORRIBLE reader.
- By Charles Floading on 10-16-07
-
Invisible Man
- A Novel
- By: Ralph Ellison
- Narrated by: Joe Morton
- Length: 18 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ralph Elllison's Invisible Man is a monumental novel, one that can well be called an epic of modern American Negro life. It is a strange story, in which many extraordinary things happen, some of them shocking and brutal, some of them pitiful and touching—yet always with elements of comedy and irony and burlesque that appear in unexpected places. It is a book that has a great deal to say and which is destined to have a great deal said about it.
-
-
How Did This Escape Me?
- By E. Pearson on 11-23-11
By: Ralph Ellison
-
The True American
- Murder and Mercy in Texas
- By: Anand Giridharadas
- Narrated by: Anand Giridharadas
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The True American tells the story of Raisuddin Bhuiyan, a Bangladesh Air Force officer who dreams of immigrating to America and working in technology. But days after 9/11, an avowed "American terrorist" named Mark Stroman, seeking revenge, walks into the Dallas minimart where Bhuiyan has found temporary work and shoots him, maiming and nearly killing him. Two other victims, at other gas stations, aren't so lucky, dying at once. The True American traces the making of these two men, Stroman and Bhuiyan, and of their fateful encounter.
-
-
moving sad story
- By John on 09-03-15
-
The Other Wes Moore
- One Name, Two Fates
- By: Wes Moore, Tavis Smiley - afterword
- Narrated by: Wes Moore
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In December 2000, the Baltimore Sun ran a small piece about Wes Moore, a local student who had just received a Rhodes Scholarship. The same paper also ran a series of articles about four young men who had allegedly killed a police officer in a spectacularly botched armed robbery. The police were still hunting for two of the suspects who had gone on the lam, a pair of brothers. One was named Wes Moore.
-
-
Insightful lesson in self-determination
- By Aneesah on 02-04-13
By: Wes Moore, and others
-
Interior Chinatown
- A Novel
- By: Charles Yu
- Narrated by: Joel de la Fuente
- Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Willis Wu doesn’t perceive himself as a protagonist even in his own life: He’s merely Generic Asian man. Sometimes he gets to be Background Oriental Making a Weird Face or even Disgraced Son, but he is always relegated to a prop. Yet every day he leaves his tiny room in a Chinatown SRO and enters the Golden Palace restaurant, where Black and White, a procedural cop show, is in perpetual production. He’s a bit player here, too, but he dreams of being Kung Fu Guy - the most respected role that anyone who looks like him can attain. At least that’s what he has been told.
-
-
Kong Fu Guy
- By JCY on 01-30-20
By: Charles Yu
-
The Master Plan
- My Journey From Life in Prison to a Life of Purpose
- By: Chris Wilson, Bret Witter, Wes Moore - foreword
- Narrated by: Chris Wilson, Wes Moore
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Growing up in a tough Washington, D.C., neighborhood, Chris Wilson was so afraid for his life he wouldn't leave the house without a gun. One night, defending himself, he killed a man. At 18, he was sentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole. But what should have been the end of his story became the beginning. Deciding to make something of his life, Chris embarked on a journey of self-improvement - reading, working out, learning languages, even starting a business. He wrote his Master Plan: a list of all he expected to accomplish or acquire.
-
-
"Read books that feed your soul."
- By Lighteyes214 on 03-17-20
By: Chris Wilson, and others
-
Gang Leader for a Day
- A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
- By: Sudhir Venkatesh
- Narrated by: Reg Rogers, Sudhir Venkatesh, Stephen J. Dubner
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of the young sociologist who studied a Chicago crack-dealing gang from the inside captured the world's attention when it was first described in Freakonomics. Gang Leader for a Day is the fascinating full story of how Sudhir Venkatest managed to gain entree into the gang, what he learned, and how his method revolutionized the academic establishment.
-
-
Listen to this one first
- By DanO on 01-15-08
By: Sudhir Venkatesh
-
Che Guevara
- A Revolutionary Life
- By: Jon Lee Anderson
- Narrated by: Armando Durán
- Length: 36 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Che Guevara was a dashing rebel whose epic dream was to end poverty and injustice in Latin America and the developing world through armed revolution. Jon Lee Anderson traces Che's extraordinary life from his comfortable Argentine upbringing to the battlefields of the Cuban revolution, from the halls of power in Castro's government to his failed campaign in the Congo and his assassination in the Bolivian jungle.
-
-
Encompassing and Fair Look at an Historical Man
- By Matt on 08-10-11
By: Jon Lee Anderson
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
The Upside of Fear
- How One Man Broke the Cycle of Prison, Poverty, and Addiction
- By: Weldon Long
- Narrated by: Weldon Long
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Weldon Long knows firsthand that Maui is nicer than prison. After 13 years of federal and state incarceration, he emerged a transformed man: a powerful speaker, driven motivator, and successful trainer/entrepreneur. Long holds a BS in law and an MBA in management, despite dropping out of high school in the ninth grade.
-
-
What’s the point?
- By Elliot king on 10-21-21
By: Weldon Long
-
Newjack
- Guarding Sing Sing
- By: Ted Conover
- Narrated by: Ted Conover
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As he struggles to be a good officer, Ted Conover angers inmates, dodges blows, works to balance decency with toughness, and participates in prison rituals - strip frisks, cell searches, cell "extractions" - that exact a toll on inmates and officers alike. The tale begins with the corrections academy and ends with the flames and smoke of New Year's Eve on Conover's floor of the notorious B-Block. Along the way, Conover also recounts the history of Sing Sing.
-
-
THE BEST BOOK ON PRISON LIFE I HAVE EVER READ!!!
- By Steve on 06-27-09
By: Ted Conover
-
Girls Like Us
- Fighting for a World Where Girls Are Not for Sale, an Activist Finds Her Calling and Heals Herself
- By: Rachel Lloyd
- Narrated by: Rachel Lloyd
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During her teens, Rachel Lloyd ended up a victim of commercial sexual exploitation. With time, through incredible resilience, and with the help of a local church community, she finally broke free of her pimp and her past and devoted herself to helping other young girls escape "the life". In Girls Like Us, Lloyd reveals the dark world of commercial sex trafficking in cinematic detail and tells the story of her groundbreaking nonprofit organization: GEMS.
-
-
Rachel Lloyd is an Amazing Woman
- By joan m. on 01-14-22
By: Rachel Lloyd
-
The Gift of Adversity
- The Unexpected Benefits of Life's Difficulties, Setbacks, and Imperfections
- By: Norman E. Rosenthal M.D.
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The noted research psychiatrist explores how life's disappointments and difficulties provide us with the lessons we need to become better, bigger, and more resilient human beings. Adversity is an irreducible fact of life. Although we can and should learn from all experiences, both positive and negative best-selling author Dr. Norman E. Rosenthal believes that adversity is by far the best teacher most of us will ever encounter.
-
-
Book ruined by the narrator
- By David C. on 12-07-22
-
Radical
- My Journey out of Islamist Extremism
- By: Maajid Nawaz
- Narrated by: David Linski
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maajid Nawaz spent his teenage years listening to American hip-hop and learning about the radical Islamist movement spreading throughout Europe and Asia in the 1980s and '90s. At 16, he was already a ranking member in Hizb ut-Tahrir, a London-based Islamist group. He quickly rose through the ranks to become a top recruiter, a charismatic spokesman for the cause of uniting Islam's political power across the world.
-
-
Insightful and Enlightening. Blown Away by Radical
- By oneofmanymonkeys on 04-29-16
By: Maajid Nawaz
-
Prisoner
- My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison—Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out
- By: Jason Rezaian
- Narrated by: Jason Rezaian
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The dramatic memoir of the journalist who was held hostage in a high-security prison in Tehran for 18 months and whose release - which almost didn’t happen - became a part of the Iran nuclear deal.
-
-
Should have been much better given subject matter
- By Sample Sloth on 04-17-19
By: Jason Rezaian
-
The Upside of Fear
- How One Man Broke the Cycle of Prison, Poverty, and Addiction
- By: Weldon Long
- Narrated by: Weldon Long
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Weldon Long knows firsthand that Maui is nicer than prison. After 13 years of federal and state incarceration, he emerged a transformed man: a powerful speaker, driven motivator, and successful trainer/entrepreneur. Long holds a BS in law and an MBA in management, despite dropping out of high school in the ninth grade.
-
-
What’s the point?
- By Elliot king on 10-21-21
By: Weldon Long
-
Newjack
- Guarding Sing Sing
- By: Ted Conover
- Narrated by: Ted Conover
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As he struggles to be a good officer, Ted Conover angers inmates, dodges blows, works to balance decency with toughness, and participates in prison rituals - strip frisks, cell searches, cell "extractions" - that exact a toll on inmates and officers alike. The tale begins with the corrections academy and ends with the flames and smoke of New Year's Eve on Conover's floor of the notorious B-Block. Along the way, Conover also recounts the history of Sing Sing.
-
-
THE BEST BOOK ON PRISON LIFE I HAVE EVER READ!!!
- By Steve on 06-27-09
By: Ted Conover
-
Girls Like Us
- Fighting for a World Where Girls Are Not for Sale, an Activist Finds Her Calling and Heals Herself
- By: Rachel Lloyd
- Narrated by: Rachel Lloyd
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During her teens, Rachel Lloyd ended up a victim of commercial sexual exploitation. With time, through incredible resilience, and with the help of a local church community, she finally broke free of her pimp and her past and devoted herself to helping other young girls escape "the life". In Girls Like Us, Lloyd reveals the dark world of commercial sex trafficking in cinematic detail and tells the story of her groundbreaking nonprofit organization: GEMS.
-
-
Rachel Lloyd is an Amazing Woman
- By joan m. on 01-14-22
By: Rachel Lloyd
-
The Gift of Adversity
- The Unexpected Benefits of Life's Difficulties, Setbacks, and Imperfections
- By: Norman E. Rosenthal M.D.
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The noted research psychiatrist explores how life's disappointments and difficulties provide us with the lessons we need to become better, bigger, and more resilient human beings. Adversity is an irreducible fact of life. Although we can and should learn from all experiences, both positive and negative best-selling author Dr. Norman E. Rosenthal believes that adversity is by far the best teacher most of us will ever encounter.
-
-
Book ruined by the narrator
- By David C. on 12-07-22
-
Radical
- My Journey out of Islamist Extremism
- By: Maajid Nawaz
- Narrated by: David Linski
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maajid Nawaz spent his teenage years listening to American hip-hop and learning about the radical Islamist movement spreading throughout Europe and Asia in the 1980s and '90s. At 16, he was already a ranking member in Hizb ut-Tahrir, a London-based Islamist group. He quickly rose through the ranks to become a top recruiter, a charismatic spokesman for the cause of uniting Islam's political power across the world.
-
-
Insightful and Enlightening. Blown Away by Radical
- By oneofmanymonkeys on 04-29-16
By: Maajid Nawaz
-
Prisoner
- My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison—Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out
- By: Jason Rezaian
- Narrated by: Jason Rezaian
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The dramatic memoir of the journalist who was held hostage in a high-security prison in Tehran for 18 months and whose release - which almost didn’t happen - became a part of the Iran nuclear deal.
-
-
Should have been much better given subject matter
- By Sample Sloth on 04-17-19
By: Jason Rezaian
-
Because You Loved Me
- By: M. William Phelps
- Narrated by: J. Charles
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jeanne Dominico's fiancé found her body on her kitchen floor. More than forty stab wounds and blows to her head with a blunt instrument had cut her life short. What monster had struck in the heart of a peaceful New England town?
-
-
"True?" Crime
- By Shelli on 09-30-09
-
So You've Been Publicly Shamed
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the Sunday Times top ten bestselling author of The Psychopath Test, a captivating and brilliant exploration of one of our world's most underappreciated forces: shame. 'It's about the terror, isn't it?' 'The terror of what?' I said. 'The terror of being found out.' For the past three years, Jon Ronson has travelled the world meeting recipients of high-profile public shamings. The shamed are people like us - people who, say, made a joke on social media that came out badly, or made a mistake at work.
-
-
You'll never look at public shaming the same way
- By Megan Gunter on 04-02-15
By: Jon Ronson
-
The Priority List
- A Teacher's Final Quest to Discover Life's Greatest Lessons
- By: David Menasche
- Narrated by: David Menasche
- Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Menasche lived for his work as a high school English teacher. His passion inspired his students, and between lessons on Shakespeare and sentence structure, he forged a unique bond with his kids, buoying them through personal struggles while sharing valuable life lessons.
-
-
Truly Inspiring!!
- By Trish on 07-13-14
By: David Menasche
-
Letters to an Incarcerated Brother
- Encouragement, Hope, and Healing for Inmates and Their Loved Ones
- By: Hill Harper
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the publication of the best-selling Letters to a Young Brother, accomplished actor and speaker Hill Harper began to receive an increasing number of moving letters from inmates who yearned for a connection with a successful role model. With disturbing statistics on African-American incarceration on his mind (one in six black men were incarcerated as of 2001, and one in three can now expect to go to prison some time in their lifetimes), Harper set out to address the specific needs of inmates.
-
-
great read and a amazing book . every black man no matter where should read it.
- By Anonymous User on 06-25-24
By: Hill Harper
-
True Notebooks
- A Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall
- By: Mark Salzman
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Surprising, charming, upsetting, enlightening, and ultimately hopeful - driven by the insight and humor of Salzman’s voice and by the intelligence, candor, and strength of his students, whose writing appears throughout the book - True Notebooks is itself a reward of the self-expression Mark Salzman teaches: a revelatory meditation on the process, power, and meaning of writing.
-
-
Funny, witty and honest! Loved the book!!
- By Erika on 11-24-03
By: Mark Salzman
-
The 57 Bus
- A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives
- By: Dashka Slater
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If it weren't for the 57 bus, Sasha and Richard never would have met. Both were high school students from Oakland, California, one of the most diverse cities in the country, but they inhabited different worlds. Sasha, a white teen, lived in the middle-class foothills and attended a small private school. Richard, a black teen, lived in the crime-plagued flatlands and attended a large public one. Each day, their paths overlapped for a mere eight minutes. But, one afternoon, on the bus ride home from school, a single reckless act left Sasha severely burned.
-
-
An Unusual True-Crime Event...Beautifully Written.
- By Mary Burnight on 02-21-18
By: Dashka Slater
-
The Pursuit of Happyness (Abridged)
- By: Chris Gardner
- Narrated by: Andre Blake
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the age of 20, Chris Gardner arrived in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine. However, he surprised everyone and himself by setting his sights on the competitive world of high finance. Yet no sooner had he landed an entry-level position at a prestigious firm, Gardner found himself caught in a web of incredibly challenging circumstances that left him part of the city's working homeless with his toddler son.
-
-
Very Good Story!
- By Lito Da Critic on 06-02-06
By: Chris Gardner
-
Where Mercy Is Shown, Mercy Is Given
- By: Duane 'Dog' Chapman
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Considered by many to be the world's greatest bounty hunter, Duane "Dog" Chapman has become famous for capturing fugitives on Dog the Bounty Hunter, his number-one-rated show on A&E. But his job doesn't end when he cuffs his man - or woman. Having personally struggled against abuse, addiction, and a life of crime, Dog knows a thing or two about the path that these fugitives cuffed in the back of his car are on.
-
-
Slow narration - I wish the author narrated more
- By HappyQuails on 02-22-11
-
Getting Life
- An Innocent Man’s 25-Year Journey from Prison to Peace
- By: Michael Morton
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On August 13, 1986, just one day after his 32nd birthday, Michael Morton went to work at his usual time. By the end of the day, his wife Christine had been savagely bludgeoned to death in the couple's bed - and the Williamson County Sherriff's office in Texas wasted no time in pinning her murder on Michael, despite an absolute lack of physical evidence. Michael was swiftly sentenced to life in prison for a crime he had not committed
-
-
A must read
- By Kevlar314 on 04-23-15
By: Michael Morton
-
When They Call You a Terrorist
- A Black Lives Matter Memoir
- By: Patrisse Cullors, asha bandele, Angela Davis - foreword
- Narrated by: Angela Davis - foreword, Angela Davis, Patrisse Cullors
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When They Call You a Terrorist is the essential audiobook for every conscientious American. From one of the cofounders of the Black Lives Matter movement comes a poetic audiobook memoir and reflection on humanity. Necessary and timely, Patrisse Cullors' story asks us to remember that protest in the interest of the most vulnerable comes from love.
-
-
Everyone should listen!
- By Mary J. Bunker on 01-26-18
By: Patrisse Cullors, and others
-
Unholy Messenger
- The Life and Crimes of the BTK Serial Killer
- By: Stephen Singular
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To all appearances, Dennis Rader was a model citizen in the small town of Park City, Kansas, where he had lived with his family almost his entire life. He was a town compliance officer, a former Boy Scout leader, the president of his church congregation, and a seemingly ordinary father and husband. But Rader's average life belied the existence of his dark, sadistic other self: he was the BTK serial killer.
-
-
It's a Christian Book!!
- By Nick on 07-07-16
By: Stephen Singular
-
A Fractured Mind
- My Life with Multiple Personality Disorder
- By: Robert B. Oxnam
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the peak of his professional career, after having led the Asia Society for nearly a decade, Oxnam was haunted by periodic blackouts and episodic rages. After his family and friends intervened, Oxnam received help from a psychiatrist, Dr. Jeffery Smith, and entered a rehab center. It wasn't until 1990, during a session with Dr. Smith, that the first of Oxnam's 11 alternate personalities, an angry young boy named Tommy, suddenly emerged.
-
-
A solid look at a rare disorder
- By O. Canosa on 11-23-07
By: Robert B. Oxnam
What listeners say about Shakespeare Saved My Life
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Big
- 03-19-19
Provocative
A powerful story on several levels. Made me want to read Shakespeare and to rethink the prisons we put ourselves in. Laura and Larry are people I’d like to know!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Heather Johnson
- 08-21-23
Must Read!
This is such an important story for the general public and educators alike.
The story is excellent but it would have been stronger with a different reader.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chad
- 09-21-20
A powerful look at life behind bars
The author, who volunteers extensively in prison (particularly supermax), tells the story of her experiences there, what she sees in prison, of the life prisoners lead. Most notably, there is one prisoner in particular she talks about. A man who went to prison as a teenager and faces life without the possibility of parole. As a prisoner, he's committed violent acts in the past, but now the older version of this man is quiet, compassionate and intelligent, and devours Shakespeare with a passion the author only dreams of seeing in her ordinary college students.
To be clear, this book is about prison, not about shakespeare. Despite the author's fan of the subject, it's clear the inmate's passion for Shakespeare is simply due to them being utterly starved of any other intellectual distraction. Although it is interesting how the book will draw comparisons between situations faced by the characters in Shakespeare's plays and those faced by the inmates before they become prisoners, causing them to see those situations in a different light.
I am uncomfortable with how the author sometimes draws comparisons between her experiences and those of the inmates. For example, she on multiple occasions refers to having spent ten years in solitary confinement, when what she really means is she make weekly visits to the prison to volunteer.
Her accomplishments are definitely notable though. She spent a huge amount of time in a risky and intimidating situation, helping to educate prisoners. Although it did accord her some degree of fame, it had a negative impact on her career, in which "publish or perish" is the watchword. So she certainly made sacrifices for what she believes in.
The underlying narrative is clearly the mistreatment of people in prison. How we treat prisoners in ways that would be deemed torture and abuse in any other context. That we should think of imprisonment as a tool for reform, not punishment. Curiously, though, the author never actually comes out and says this. The closest is sharing the prisoner's own opinions on reform. Perhaps she felt the lesson would be more powerful if treated with a bit of subtlety.
I largely recommend this book so that we can all better understand the criminal justice system, and the unfairness and inefficacy thereof. This story makes it clear that criminal justice reform is greatly needed in the US.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michele
- 11-23-20
Interesting Story On Many Levels
I really enjoyed the book. I wish there was a follow up after all these years. I found Newton and Dr Bates had a great relationship on so many different levels with a lot of respect for each other.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kelly
- 07-29-16
Redemption & Friendship Change the World.
I expected a little more analysis of Shakespeare, and that was an element which I both dreaded and anticipated. What the book gave me though was an intimate glimpse into a very sweet relationship between the author and man who was spending life in prison and a great deal of it in segregation. This man was a murderer and a thief, but he was also human. He desired an education, a relationship and connections with the outside world. The author let us see that part of the man. I found it intriguing and complicated; I found it to be real and sweet and entertaining. This is one of those books that will make you think and feel. Now, if it had been a bit longer and had explored Shakespeare more as I expected based on the title and the editor's description this book may have received 5 stars.
Cassandra Campbell's narration was beautifully subtle. I felt as though I was listening to the author tell her own story -- not like someone else reading her book. I love when a narrator can meld seamlessly into the story and virtually disappear. Ms. Campbell does that here.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- K J Malone
- 08-05-16
amazing must listen
a lot of thought to do after the listen with respect to how what Larry undergoes in isolation relates to other mental health challenges
amazing insights
narrator wonderfully on track in her voice changes for the different characters, significantly improved the listen
almost has me wanting to read Shakespeare. when she gets the book out on it I might
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- F. Rubino
- 02-26-23
Life without parole…ever.
Story of a friendship between a Shakespeare Professor and 17 y/o murderer who enters a college level Shakespeare program at age 30 and becomes a changed man and discovered that he must breakout of his own self imposed prison.
The two learned from each other about overcoming life’s difficulties .
I highly recommend this book to people who work in the prison system as well as college professors and all others.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael Clementi
- 07-14-17
An amazing tale of the human spirit.
I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. Fantastic story, - well read. An incredible for tale of justice, injustice, and the triumph of the human spirit.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Hanh Nguyen
- 04-20-24
Newton’s perseverance
I love how Larry persevered all through his obstacles and stayed strong. It’s now 14 years since this book was written, I am praying that he continues to stay strong and continues to leave footprints wherever he goes.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Suzanne Hathaway
- 05-24-24
Changed lives
I loved this book and I have never read any Shakespeare. I did not want it to end!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!