Sometimes Brilliant
The Impossible Adventure of a Spiritual Seeker and Visionary Physician Who Helped Conquer the Worst Disease in History
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 $22.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Fred Sanders
-
By:
-
Larry Brilliant
About this listen
When a powerful mystic steps on the hand of a radical young hippie doctor from Detroit, it changes lives and the world. Sometimes Brilliant is the adventures of a philosopher, mystic, hippie, doctor, groundbreaking tech innovator, and key player in the eradication of one of the worst pandemics in human history. His story, of what happens when love, compassion and determination meet the right circumstances to effect positive change, is the kind that keeps hope and the sense of possibility alive.
After sitting at the feet of Martin Luther King at the University of Michigan in 1963, Larry Brilliant was swept up into the civil rights movement, marching and protesting across America and Europe. As a radical young doctor he followed the hippie trail from London over the Khyber Pass with his wife Girija, Wavy Gravy and the Hog Farm commune to India. There, he found himself in a Himalayan ashram wondering whether he had stumbled into a cult. Instead, one of India’s greatest spiritual teachers, Neem Karoli Baba, opened Larry’s heart and told him his destiny was to work for the World Health Organization to help eradicate killer smallpox. He would never have believed he would become a key player in eliminating a 10,000-year-old disease that killed more than half a billion people in the 20th century alone.
Brilliant’s unlikely trajectory, chronicled in Sometimes Brilliant, has brought him into close proximity with political leaders, spiritual masters, cultural heroes, and titans of technology around the world—from the Grateful Dead to Mikhail Gorbachev, from Ram Dass, the Dalai Lama, Lama Govinda, and Karmapa to Steve Jobs and the founders of Google, Salesforce, Facebook, Microsoft and eBay and Presidents Carter, Clinton, Bush and Obama. Anchored by the engrossing account of the heroic efforts of the extraordinary people involved in smallpox eradication in India, this is a riveting and fascinating epidemiological adventure, an honest reckoning of an entire generation, and a deeply moving spiritual memoir. It is a testament to faith, love, service, and what it means to engage with life’s most important questions in pursuit of a better, more brilliant existence.
©2016 Larry Brilliant (P)2016 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
-
Lincoln in the Bardo
- A Novel
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, George Saunders, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln’s beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. “My poor boy, he was too good for this earth,” the president says at the time. “God has called him home.”
-
-
"Where might God stand?"
- By Mel on 02-17-17
By: George Saunders
-
Becoming Nobody
- The Essential Ram Dass Collection
- By: Ram Dass
- Narrated by: Ram Dass
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audio collection brings us five essential sessions, featured in the Ram Dass documentary film Becoming Nobody, presented here in their entirety. Each beautifully illuminates a core dimension of Ram Dass’s wisdom. Through teaching stories, true accounts, eye-opening revelations, and his one-of-a-kind sense of humor, this legendary teacher helps show us the way out of the prison of our self-identity - and into the joy of being at once “nobody” and the universal divine at play in the world.
-
-
Can get for free on YouTube
- By wayne on 12-26-19
By: Ram Dass
-
Paths to God
- Living the Bhagavad Gita
- By: Ram Dass
- Narrated by: Paul Brion
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Now, in a fascinating series of reflections, anecdotes, stories, and exercises, Ram Dass gives us a unique and accessible road map for experiencing divinity in everyday life. In the engaging, conversational style that has made his teachings so popular for decades, Ram Dass traces our journey of consciousness as it is reflected in one of Hinduism's most sacred texts. The Gita teaches a system of yogas, or "paths for coming to union with God."
-
-
Well, I guess that's this books work taken care of
- By Jeremy Teeter on 11-30-17
By: Ram Dass
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
Be Love Now
- The Path of the Heart
- By: Rameshwar Das, Ram Dass
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ram Dass’s long-awaited Be Love Now is the transformational teaching of a forty year journey to the heart. The author of the two-million-copy classic Remember, Be Here Now and its influential sequel Still Here, Dass is joined once more by Rameshwar Das—a collaborator from the Love Serve Remember audio recordings—to offer this intimate and inspiring exploration of the human soul.
-
-
Another great one from Ram Dass but for the reader
- By Evelyn on 05-01-12
By: Rameshwar Das, and others
-
Being Ram Dass
- By: Rameshwar Das, Ram Dass
- Narrated by: Rameshwar Das
- Length: 18 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Harvard psychology professor Richard Alpert to psychedelic and spiritual icon, Ram Dass tells here, for the first time, the full arc of his remarkable life. Populated by a cast of luminaries, this intimate memoir chronicles Ram Dass’ life across nine decades of cultural and spiritual transformation that resonate with us to this day.
-
-
Amazing memoir
- By Justin Lodge on 05-08-21
By: Rameshwar Das, and others
-
Lincoln in the Bardo
- A Novel
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, George Saunders, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln’s beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. “My poor boy, he was too good for this earth,” the president says at the time. “God has called him home.”
-
-
"Where might God stand?"
- By Mel on 02-17-17
By: George Saunders
-
Becoming Nobody
- The Essential Ram Dass Collection
- By: Ram Dass
- Narrated by: Ram Dass
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audio collection brings us five essential sessions, featured in the Ram Dass documentary film Becoming Nobody, presented here in their entirety. Each beautifully illuminates a core dimension of Ram Dass’s wisdom. Through teaching stories, true accounts, eye-opening revelations, and his one-of-a-kind sense of humor, this legendary teacher helps show us the way out of the prison of our self-identity - and into the joy of being at once “nobody” and the universal divine at play in the world.
-
-
Can get for free on YouTube
- By wayne on 12-26-19
By: Ram Dass
-
Paths to God
- Living the Bhagavad Gita
- By: Ram Dass
- Narrated by: Paul Brion
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Now, in a fascinating series of reflections, anecdotes, stories, and exercises, Ram Dass gives us a unique and accessible road map for experiencing divinity in everyday life. In the engaging, conversational style that has made his teachings so popular for decades, Ram Dass traces our journey of consciousness as it is reflected in one of Hinduism's most sacred texts. The Gita teaches a system of yogas, or "paths for coming to union with God."
-
-
Well, I guess that's this books work taken care of
- By Jeremy Teeter on 11-30-17
By: Ram Dass
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
Be Love Now
- The Path of the Heart
- By: Rameshwar Das, Ram Dass
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ram Dass’s long-awaited Be Love Now is the transformational teaching of a forty year journey to the heart. The author of the two-million-copy classic Remember, Be Here Now and its influential sequel Still Here, Dass is joined once more by Rameshwar Das—a collaborator from the Love Serve Remember audio recordings—to offer this intimate and inspiring exploration of the human soul.
-
-
Another great one from Ram Dass but for the reader
- By Evelyn on 05-01-12
By: Rameshwar Das, and others
-
Being Ram Dass
- By: Rameshwar Das, Ram Dass
- Narrated by: Rameshwar Das
- Length: 18 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Harvard psychology professor Richard Alpert to psychedelic and spiritual icon, Ram Dass tells here, for the first time, the full arc of his remarkable life. Populated by a cast of luminaries, this intimate memoir chronicles Ram Dass’ life across nine decades of cultural and spiritual transformation that resonate with us to this day.
-
-
Amazing memoir
- By Justin Lodge on 05-08-21
By: Rameshwar Das, and others
-
Chants of a Lifetime
- Searching for a Heart of Gold
- By: Krishna Das
- Narrated by: Krishna Das
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chants of a Lifetime offers an intimate collection of stories, teachings, and insights from Krishna Das, who has been called "the chant master of American yoga" by the New York Times. Since 1994, the sound of his voice singing traditional Indian chants with a Western flavor has brought the spiritual experience of chanting to audiences all over the world. Now he offers a unique book-with-audio download combination that explores his fascinating path and creates an opportunity for just about anyone to experience chanting in a unique and special way.
-
-
Beautiful, no words to describe.
- By SAROJBEN on 02-02-21
By: Krishna Das
-
Living Buddha, Living Christ
- By: Thich Nhat Hanh
- Narrated by: Ben Kingsley
- Length: 2 hrs and 16 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
World-renowned thinker and scholar Thich Nhat Hanh, considered by many to be a "Living Buddah," explores the spiritual crossroads where the traditions of Christianity and Buddhism meet. Living Buddha, Living Christ reawakens our understanding of both religions and the connections between them.
-
-
Beautiful
- By Jennifer Weatherbee on 04-18-15
By: Thich Nhat Hanh
-
The Perennial Philosophy
- By: Aldous Huxley
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With great wit and stunning intellect - drawing on a diverse array of faiths, including Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Christian mysticism, and Islam - Huxley examines the spiritual beliefs of various religious traditions and explains how they are united by a common human yearning to experience the divine. The Perennial Philosophy includes selections from Meister Eckhart, Rumi, and Lao Tzu, as well as the Bhagavad Gita, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Diamond Sutra, and Upanishads, among many others.
-
-
Segments in French
- By franck battelli on 03-29-19
By: Aldous Huxley
-
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
- Liberation Through Understanding in the Between
- By: Robert Thurman - translator
- Narrated by: Robert Thurman
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The so-called Tibetan Book of the Dead has been renowned for centuries as a cornerstone of Buddhist wisdom and religious thought. More recently, it has become highly influential in the Western world for its psychological insights into the processes of death and dying - and what they can teach us about the ways we live our lives. It has also been found to be helpful in the grieving process by people who have recently lost their loved ones. This authoritative translation preserves the form and spirit of the original and was prepared especially for Western audiences.
-
-
Richard Gere version on DVD way better
- By Dr Purple on 11-18-20
-
Mountains Beyond Mountains
- The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World
- By: Tracy Kidder
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In medical school, Paul Farmer found his life’s calling: to cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. Tracy Kidder’s magnificent account shows how one person can make a difference in solving global health problems through a clear-eyed understanding of the interaction of politics, wealth, social systems, and disease. Profound, Mountains Beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes people’s minds through his dedication to the philosophy that “the only real nation is humanity.”
-
-
A Great Book
- By MikeInOhio on 11-22-03
By: Tracy Kidder
-
Love, Service, Devotion, and the Ultimate Surrender
- Ram Dass on the Bhagavad Gita
- By: Ram Dass
- Narrated by: Ram Dass
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Bhagavad Gita is a gem so precious in India's spiritual treasury that many regard it not as a volume of sacred verse, but as a living manifestation of the Divine. In the summer of 1974, inside a balmy Boulder, Colorado, warehouse that served as a main hall of a fledgling Naropa Institute, some say a minor miracle occured: The reawakening of the Gita's living presence, as it unfolded in a series of wisdom teachings led by Ram Dass.
-
-
Absolutely the Ultimate
- By kessing on 09-17-11
By: Ram Dass
-
The Moment of Lift
- How Empowering Women Changes the World
- By: Melinda French Gates
- Narrated by: Melinda French Gates
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How can we summon a moment of lift for human beings - and especially for women? Because, when you lift up women, you lift up humanity. For the last 20 years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: If you want to lift society up, you need to stop keeping women down.
-
-
Phenomenal Book, Absolute Gem
- By D. Sooley on 04-28-19
-
The Traveler's Gift
- By: Andy Andrews
- Narrated by: Andy Andrews
- Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This modern morality tale by gifted writer and speaker Andy Andrews teaches seven fundamental strategies for creating a successful life. Much like the best-selling books by Og Mandino, this unique narrative is a blend of entertaining fiction, allegory, and inspiration. Storyteller Andy Andrews gives a front-row seat for one man's journey of a lifetime. David Ponder has lost his job and the will to live.
-
-
A Story that Can Change Your Life
- By Laura on 08-31-15
By: Andy Andrews
-
Real Life
- The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom
- By: Sharon Salzberg
- Narrated by: Sharon Salzberg
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When we feel alone, cut off, or trapped, we can let those difficulties steer us onto a path toward an authentic, flourishing life—living in a way that allows us to find the wholeness that lies within. Even when we’re alone, a sense of community can accompany us through the stormy times. Our words, hearts, and actions can line up with a larger vision, rather than the smaller views our anxious, fearful thoughts arouse in us. To live in a less constricted way—Salzberg says we need to get real about what’s most important.
-
-
Chronic depression
- By Paul on 06-23-23
By: Sharon Salzberg
-
From Strength to Strength
- Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life
- By: Arthur C. Brooks
- Narrated by: Arthur C. Brooks
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the height of his career at the age of 50, Arthur Brooks embarked on a seven-year journey to discover how to transform his future from one of disappointment over waning abilities into an opportunity for progress. From Strength to Strength is the result, a practical roadmap for the rest of your life. Drawing on social science, philosophy, biography, theology, and eastern wisdom, as well as dozens of interviews with everyday men and women, Brooks shows us that true life success is well within our reach.
-
-
A self-help book for overeducated overachievers
- By 11104 on 02-23-22
By: Arthur C. Brooks
-
Golden Bones
- An Extraordinary Journey from Hell in Cambodia to a New Life in America
- By: Sichan Siv
- Narrated by: David Thorn
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Cambodia in the 1960s, Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge declared war on their own people, enslaving and slaughtering anybody who disagreed with them. Sichan Siv knew he would soon be a target - ending up, perhaps, as one of the millions of anonymous human skeletons buried in his nation's Killing Fields - so he heeded his mother's pleas and ran. Captured and forced to perform slave labor, Siv feared that he'd be worked to death or killed. But he never abandoned hope or his improbable dream of freedom - a dream that liberated him.
-
-
Misleading Publisher’s Summary
- By Chris on 05-01-18
By: Sichan Siv
-
I Can See Clearly Now
- By: Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
- Narrated by: Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For many years, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer’s fans have wondered when he would write a memoir. Well, Wayne has finally done just that! However, he has written it in a way that only he can—with a remarkable take-home message for his longtime followers and new readers alike—and the result is an exciting new twist on the old format. Rather than a plain old memoir, Wayne has gathered together quantum-moment recollections.
-
-
Not seeing so clear
- By char on 03-27-14
Related to this topic
-
Golden Bones
- An Extraordinary Journey from Hell in Cambodia to a New Life in America
- By: Sichan Siv
- Narrated by: David Thorn
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Cambodia in the 1960s, Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge declared war on their own people, enslaving and slaughtering anybody who disagreed with them. Sichan Siv knew he would soon be a target - ending up, perhaps, as one of the millions of anonymous human skeletons buried in his nation's Killing Fields - so he heeded his mother's pleas and ran. Captured and forced to perform slave labor, Siv feared that he'd be worked to death or killed. But he never abandoned hope or his improbable dream of freedom - a dream that liberated him.
-
-
Misleading Publisher’s Summary
- By Chris on 05-01-18
By: Sichan Siv
-
Preemptive Love
- Pursuing Peace One Heart at a Time
- By: Jeremy Courtney
- Narrated by: Jeremy Courtney
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the middle of the Iraq War, Jeremy and Jessica Courtney found themselves with their two children caught up in the turmoil, just hoping to make a difference. After an encounter with a father whose little girl was dying from a heart defect, they began to investigate options for helping and learned that untold thousands of children across Iraq were in similar need, waiting in line for heart surgery in a country without a qualified heart surgeon.
-
-
Recommended Highly!
- By Zak on 06-13-18
By: Jeremy Courtney
-
Mighty Be Our Powers
- How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War; a Memoir
- By: Leymah Gbowee, Carol Mithers
- Narrated by: Kimberly Scott
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a young woman growing up in Africa, 17-year-old Leymah Gbowee was crushed by a savage war when violence reached her native Monrovia, depriving her of the education she yearned for and claiming the lives of relatives and friends. As war continued to ravage Liberia, Gbowee’s bitterness turned to rage-fueled action as she realized that women bear the greatest burden in prolonged conflicts.
-
-
Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and
- By Kathy on 10-07-11
By: Leymah Gbowee, and others
-
I Shall Not Hate
- A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity
- By: Izzeldin Abuelaish
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish---now known simply as the "Gaza doctor"---captured hearts and headlines around the world in the aftermath of horrific tragedy: On January 16, 2009, Israeli shells hit his home in the Gaza Strip, killing three of his daughters and his niece. By turns inspiring and heartbreaking, hopeful and horrifying, I Shall Not Hate is Abuelaish's account of an extraordinary life.
-
-
A story worth reading, but terrible narration
- By BL Lucas on 04-11-12
-
Across Many Mountains
- A Tibetan Family's Epic Journey from Oppression to Freedom
- By: Yangzom Brauen
- Narrated by: Yangzom Brauen
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A powerful, emotional memoir and an extraordinary portrait of three generations of Tibetan women whose lives are forever changed when Chairman Mao’s Red Army crushes Tibetan independence, sending a young mother and her six-year-old daughter on a treacherous journey across the snowy Himalayas toward freedom.
-
-
Excellent all around!
- By Lynn on 09-06-12
By: Yangzom Brauen
-
Keeping Hope Alive
- One Woman: 90,000 Lives Changed
- By: Hawa Abdi, Sarah J. Robbins
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Hawa Abdi, "the Mother Teresa of Somalia" and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, is the founder of a massive camp for internally displaced people located a few miles from war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia. Since 1991, when the Somali government collapsed, famine struck, and aid groups fled, she has dedicated herself to providing help for people whose lives have been shattered by violence and poverty.
-
-
How Refreshing
- By Jean Watz on 07-21-14
By: Hawa Abdi, and others
-
Golden Bones
- An Extraordinary Journey from Hell in Cambodia to a New Life in America
- By: Sichan Siv
- Narrated by: David Thorn
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Cambodia in the 1960s, Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge declared war on their own people, enslaving and slaughtering anybody who disagreed with them. Sichan Siv knew he would soon be a target - ending up, perhaps, as one of the millions of anonymous human skeletons buried in his nation's Killing Fields - so he heeded his mother's pleas and ran. Captured and forced to perform slave labor, Siv feared that he'd be worked to death or killed. But he never abandoned hope or his improbable dream of freedom - a dream that liberated him.
-
-
Misleading Publisher’s Summary
- By Chris on 05-01-18
By: Sichan Siv
-
Preemptive Love
- Pursuing Peace One Heart at a Time
- By: Jeremy Courtney
- Narrated by: Jeremy Courtney
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the middle of the Iraq War, Jeremy and Jessica Courtney found themselves with their two children caught up in the turmoil, just hoping to make a difference. After an encounter with a father whose little girl was dying from a heart defect, they began to investigate options for helping and learned that untold thousands of children across Iraq were in similar need, waiting in line for heart surgery in a country without a qualified heart surgeon.
-
-
Recommended Highly!
- By Zak on 06-13-18
By: Jeremy Courtney
-
Mighty Be Our Powers
- How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War; a Memoir
- By: Leymah Gbowee, Carol Mithers
- Narrated by: Kimberly Scott
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a young woman growing up in Africa, 17-year-old Leymah Gbowee was crushed by a savage war when violence reached her native Monrovia, depriving her of the education she yearned for and claiming the lives of relatives and friends. As war continued to ravage Liberia, Gbowee’s bitterness turned to rage-fueled action as she realized that women bear the greatest burden in prolonged conflicts.
-
-
Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and
- By Kathy on 10-07-11
By: Leymah Gbowee, and others
-
I Shall Not Hate
- A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity
- By: Izzeldin Abuelaish
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish---now known simply as the "Gaza doctor"---captured hearts and headlines around the world in the aftermath of horrific tragedy: On January 16, 2009, Israeli shells hit his home in the Gaza Strip, killing three of his daughters and his niece. By turns inspiring and heartbreaking, hopeful and horrifying, I Shall Not Hate is Abuelaish's account of an extraordinary life.
-
-
A story worth reading, but terrible narration
- By BL Lucas on 04-11-12
-
Across Many Mountains
- A Tibetan Family's Epic Journey from Oppression to Freedom
- By: Yangzom Brauen
- Narrated by: Yangzom Brauen
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A powerful, emotional memoir and an extraordinary portrait of three generations of Tibetan women whose lives are forever changed when Chairman Mao’s Red Army crushes Tibetan independence, sending a young mother and her six-year-old daughter on a treacherous journey across the snowy Himalayas toward freedom.
-
-
Excellent all around!
- By Lynn on 09-06-12
By: Yangzom Brauen
-
Keeping Hope Alive
- One Woman: 90,000 Lives Changed
- By: Hawa Abdi, Sarah J. Robbins
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Hawa Abdi, "the Mother Teresa of Somalia" and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, is the founder of a massive camp for internally displaced people located a few miles from war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia. Since 1991, when the Somali government collapsed, famine struck, and aid groups fled, she has dedicated herself to providing help for people whose lives have been shattered by violence and poverty.
-
-
How Refreshing
- By Jean Watz on 07-21-14
By: Hawa Abdi, and others
-
Fast Times in Palestine
- A Love Affair with a Homeless Homeland
- By: Pamela J. Olson
- Narrated by: Julia Farhat
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pamela Olson, a small town girl from eastern Oklahoma, had what she always wanted: a physics degree from Stanford University. But instead of feeling excited for what came next, she felt consumed by dread and confusion. This irresistible memoir chronicles her journey from aimless ex-bartender to Ramallah-based journalist and foreign press coordinator for a Palestinian presidential candidate.
-
-
Palestine from the Inside—and Out
- By Susie on 11-04-13
By: Pamela J. Olson
-
Strength in What Remains
- A Journey of Remembrance and Forgetting
- By: Tracy Kidder
- Narrated by: Tracy Kidder
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this new book, Kidder gives us the superb story of a hero for our time. Strength in What Remains is a wonderfully written, inspiring account of one man’s remarkable American journey and of the ordinary people who helped him–a brilliant testament to the power of will and of second chances.
-
-
My Favorite of Kidder's Books
- By Roy on 08-31-09
By: Tracy Kidder
-
Fire Road
- The Napalm Girl's Journey Through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace
- By: Kim Phuc Phan Thi, Ashley Wiersma
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Get out! Run! We must leave this place! They are going to destroy this whole place! Go, children, run first! Go now! These were the final shouts nine-year-old Kim Phuc heard before her world dissolved into flames - before napalm bombs fell from the sky, burning away her clothing and searing deep into her skin. It's a moment forever captured, an iconic image that has come to define the horror and violence of the Vietnam War. Kim was left for dead in a morgue; no one expected her to survive the attack. Napalm meant fire, and fire meant death.
-
-
The subtitle should warn what the book is
- By Rex Michael Dillon on 01-27-19
By: Kim Phuc Phan Thi, and others
-
A Woman of Firsts
- The midwife who built a hospital and changed the world
- By: Edna Adan Ismail, Wendy Holden
- Narrated by: Edna Adan Ismail
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Edna saw first-hand how poor healthcare, lack of education and ancient superstitions had devastating effects on Somaliland’s people, especially its women. When she suffered the trauma of FGM herself as a young girl at the bidding of her mother, Edna’s determination was set.
-
-
Author Read and So Moving
- By Clementa Frederiksen on 03-04-24
By: Edna Adan Ismail, and others
-
Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden
- Two Sisters Separated by China’s Civil War
- By: Zhuqing Li
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scions of a once-great southern Chinese family that produced the tutor of the last emperor, Jun and Hong were each other’s best friends until, in their twenties, they were separated at the end of the Chinese Civil War. One became a model Communist, the other a model capitalist. On Taiwan, Jun married a Nationalist general, established a trading company, and emigrated to the United States. On the Communist mainland, Hong built her medical career under a cloud of suspicion about her family and survived two waves of “re-education” before she was acclaimed for her achievements.
-
-
Wonderful Story of a Family’s Survival Through Political Change…
- By Marie G. on 04-12-23
By: Zhuqing Li
-
They Said They Wanted Revolution
- A Memoir of My Parents
- By: Neda Toloui-Semnani
- Narrated by: Neda Toloui-Semnani
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1979, Neda Toloui-Semnani’s parents left the United States for Iran to join the revolution. But the promise of those early heady days in Tehran was warped by the rise of the Islamic Republic. With the new regime came international isolation, cultural devastation, and profound personal loss for Neda. Her father was arrested and her mother was forced to make a desperate escape, pregnant and with Neda in tow.
-
-
I learned so much. Great pacing, felt like I time-traveled
- By Jess Fuchs on 02-07-22
-
Brotherhood
- Dharma, Destiny, and the American Dream
- By: Sanjiv Chopra, Deepak Chopra
- Narrated by: Deepak Chopra, Sanjiv Chopra
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Chopra brothers were among the most eager and ambitious of the new generation. In the 1970s, they each emigrated to the United States to make a new life. Both faced tough obstacles: while Deepak encountered resistance from Western-trained doctors over what he called the mind-body connection, Sanjiv struggled to reconcile the beliefs of his birthplace with those of his new home. Eventually, each brother became convinced that America was the right place to build a life, and the Chopras went on to great achievements.
-
-
How to Toot Your Horn
- By Kenneth on 07-01-13
By: Sanjiv Chopra, and others
-
The Fox Hunt
- A Refugee's Memoir of Coming to America
- By: Mohammed Al Samawi
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in the Old City of Sana’a, Yemen, to a pair of middle-class doctors, Mohammed Al Samawi was a devout Muslim raised to think of Christians and Jews as his enemy. But when Mohammed was 23, he secretly received a copy of the Bible, and what he read cast doubt on everything he’d previously believed. After connecting with Jews and Christians on social media, and at various international interfaith conferences, Mohammed became an activist, making it his mission to promote dialogue and cooperation in Yemen. Then came the death threats....
-
-
Engaging and informative memoir
- By Mark on 08-02-18
-
Led by Faith
- By: Immaculée Ilibagiza
- Narrated by: Immaculée Ilibagiza
- Length: 4 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For three months in the spring of 1994, the African nation of Rwanda descended into one of the most vicious and bloody genocides the world has ever seen. Immaculée Ilibagiza, a young university student, miraculously survived the savage killing spree that left most of her family, friends, and a million of her fellow citizens dead. Immaculée's remarkable story of survival was documented in her first book, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.
-
-
Interesting perspective
- By RayChu on 03-13-13
-
Street of Eternal Happiness
- Big City Dreams Along a Shanghai Road
- By: Rob Schmitz
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Modern Shanghai: a global city in the midst of a renaissance, where dreamers arrive each day to partake in a mad torrent of capital, ideas, and opportunity. Marketplace's Rob Schmitz is one of them. He immerses himself in his neighborhood, forging deep relationships with ordinary people who see in the city's sleek skyline a brighter future, and a chance to rewrite their destinies.
-
-
Deserving of better audio
- By Rachael on 02-19-18
By: Rob Schmitz
-
Tea with Hezbollah
- Sitting at the Enemies' Table - Our Journey Through the Middle East
- By: Ted Dekker, Carl Medearis
- Narrated by: George K. Wilson
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Is it really possible to love one's enemies? That's the question that sparked a fascinating and, at times, terrifying journey into the heart of the Middle East during the summer of 2008. It was a trip that began in Egypt, passed beneath the steel-and-glass high-rises of Saudi Arabia, then wound through the bullet-pocked alleyways of Beirut and dusty streets of Damascus, before ending at the cradle of the world's three major religions: Jerusalem.
-
-
Over the top great book
- By Robert on 07-22-10
By: Ted Dekker, and others
-
The Souls of China
- The Return of Religion After Mao
- By: Ian Johnson
- Narrated by: Ian Johnson
- Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Souls of China tells the story of one of the world's great spiritual revivals. Following a century of violent antireligious campaigns, China is now filled with new temples, churches, and mosques - as well as cults, sects, and politicians trying to harness religion for their own ends. Driving this explosion of faith is uncertainty - over what it means to be Chinese and how to live an ethical life in a country that discarded traditional morality a century ago and is searching for new guideposts.
-
-
expository but boring
- By Laurent V. on 05-07-18
By: Ian Johnson
What listeners say about Sometimes Brilliant
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wendy D. Fambro
- 06-11-24
Thought provoking
It was very educational to be brought backstage on medical work in eradicating a disease on a global level. And though I was born in the 60s and share many socio-political leanings from the hippie era, I have no first-hand experience of the movement’s lifestyle or the migration to India by many, in search of enlightenment. So, this was also an education. My only irritation may come from some missing piece of my understanding of world religions - Dr. Brilliant used a Bible story as a reference point a few times - attributing the human bargaining with God to Noah, when the Bible ascribes this event to Abraham. Again, perhaps this story shifts in telling between various religious texts, so I’m giving it a pass.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Shanon
- 01-20-17
Inspiring
Thank you for this book. Your story is an inspiration, thank you for sharing it with us.
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
- Elaine
- 11-22-22
Triumphant story
This is a long story of Brilliant’s triumph against all odds.
Lots of detail, perhaps some might have been edited out.
The author grew in wholeness.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- ROJ
- 07-27-20
Can't Wait for the Movie
An honest and inspiring life story of fresh hope, seeking and ambition to do righteous work in the world. Thank you for sharing your stories, Dr. Brilliant.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Teresa C
- 12-29-23
Inspirational
Powerful melding of spirituality and medicine. I highly recommend to anyone interested in global health.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Karen L. Ryan
- 06-05-17
Brilliant
Heart-warming intriguing a must listen for all generations. Be prepared for an emotional joyful tearful roller coaster ride.
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
- Amazon Customer
- 04-05-21
Possibly the best book I have ever read
A self-described "Hippie Doctor," describes his work with the eradication of smallpox in India, and thus, the world. It is a cultural, scientific, personal, and even religious journey into the fight against pandemics. To me, it also highlights the of the personal hubristic response of people in the U.S. to COVID although that is my personal opinion and not a point made in the book. The closest example in the book would be to dismiss the seething, writhing, blinding pain of a child to smallpox as acceptable. Dr. Brilliant formed the nonprofit, Seva.Org to transform lives by restoring sight in communities with little or no access to eye care. I would urge that you read the book and donate to Seva. "Seva" is a Punjabi word which means "selfless service."
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Douglas S.
- 11-03-16
creates a tapestry in the mind even as it informs
I enjoyed this book. As in life, some parts are difficult.
The story is compelling and filled with inspiration
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sarah B. Readin
- 06-18-20
Read this book!!!
I have never given so much thought to the idea of spirituality as it relates to medicine and pandemics. Larry brilliant is a national treasure, and he has quite literally changed the world for the better by helping to eradicate smallpox, not to mention his work helping the blind to gain sight. Not only is he a delightful writer, but his adventures are unparalleled. I expected a lot of science in this book, but what I got was very raw and human. Read it and grow!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jean
- 12-03-21
Baby Boomer's Delight!!!
Sometimes Brilliant exceeded my expectations on so many levels. I was inspired, educated and captivated by the story of Dr. Larry Brilliant. It was bittersweet because it reminded me of the high hopes I had for myself and my generation, coming of age in the 60s and 70s. We all thought we were going to change the world. And some people actually did! Dr. Brilliant, had the willingness to jump in and tenaciously follow their dreams. Not a trouble-free life, but a life deeply lived. I was sad when the book was over because I felt great whenever I listened to it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!