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The Dean's December
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
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Publisher's summary
Albert Corde is a professor of journalism and dean of students at a Chicago university. He and his wife, Minna, travel to Bucharest, Romania, where Minna's mother has suffered a stroke and is lying semiconscious in the local state hospital. As Corde tries to adapt to life in his mother-in-law's small apartment and cope with her relations and friends, news filters through to him of problems he left behind in Chicago: one of his students has been murdered, and a series of articles he is writing offends powerful and influential Chicagoans he had thought of as friends. Gradually it becomes clear that Corde's trip abroad is more than a brief interlude in a calm and orderly life, and that nothing will ever be the same again. Witty and erudite, The Dean's December will be a delight to fans of Saul Bellow.
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The Godmothers
- A Novel
- By: Camille Aubray
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Meet the Godmothers: Filomena is a clever and resourceful war refugee with a childhood secret, who comes to America to wed Mario, the family's favored son. Amie, a beautiful and dreamy French girl from upstate New York, escapes an abusive husband after falling in love with Johnny, the oldest of the brothers. Lucy, a tough-as-nails Irish nurse, ran away from a strict girls' home and marries Frankie, the sensuous middle son. And the glamorous Petrina, the family's only daughter, graduates with honors from Barnard College despite a past trauma that nearly caused a family scandal.
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Easy Enjoyable Read
- By Bunny on 06-23-21
By: Camille Aubray
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Anthem
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: B. J. Harrison
- Length: 2 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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“It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil.” Deep issues of conscience are explored in Ayn Rand’s dystopian tale of a man who dares to fight against a system that invades his very mind and identity.
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Triumphant! A beautiful molding of the mind.
- By Kari on 02-17-16
By: Ayn Rand
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Life for Sale
- By: Yukio Mishima
- Narrated by: Kotaro Watanabe
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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After botching a suicide attempt, salaryman Hanio Yamada decides to put his life up for sale in the classifieds section of a Tokyo newspaper. Soon interested parties come calling with increasingly bizarre requests and what follows is a madcap comedy of errors, involving a jealous husband, a drug-addled heiress, poisoned carrots - even a vampire. For someone who just wants to die, Hanio can't seem to catch a break, as he finds himself enmeshed in a continent-wide conspiracy that puts him in the crosshairs of both his own government and a powerful organized-crime syndicate.
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Book is good - Narration is just terrible
- By Vyacheslav Varlakov on 03-12-21
By: Yukio Mishima
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Lady Oracle
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Lorelei King
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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From fat girl to thin, from red hair to mud brown, from London to Toronto, from Polish count to radical husband - Joan Foster is utterly confused by her life of multiple identities. She decides to escape to an Italian hill town to take stock of her life. But first, she must organize her own death.
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A Feminist Romp
- By annkpowers on 07-02-22
By: Margaret Atwood
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Pale Horse, Pale Rider
- Three Short Novels
- By: Katherine Anne Porter
- Narrated by: Chelsea Stephens
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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The classic 1939 collection of three novellas by the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author and journalist, including the famous title story set during the influenza epidemic of 1918.
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Some of the most brilliant prose ever written
- By Anonymous User on 03-21-23
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A Suitable Boy (Dramatised)
- By: Vikram Seth
- Narrated by: Ayesha Dharker, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, full cast
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Original Recording
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A Suitable Boy is Vikram Seth's epic love story set in India. Funny and tragic, with engaging, brilliantly observed characters, it is as close as you can get to Dickens for the twentieth century. The story unfolds through four middle class families: the Mehras, Kappoors, Khans, and Chatterjis. Lata Mehra, a university student, is under pressure from her mother to get married. But not to just anyone she happens to fall in love with.
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would prefer unabridged naration
- By Tamshine on 07-07-11
By: Vikram Seth
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Fifth Business
- The Deptford Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Robertson Davies
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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This first novel in The Deptford Trilogy introduces Ramsay, a man who returns from World War I decorated with the Victoria Cross but who is destined to be caught in a no man's land where memory, history, and myth collide. As we hear Ramsey tell his story, we begin to realize that, from childhood, he has influenced those around him in a perhaps mystical, perhaps pernicious way.
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Been waiting for this
- By Vinity on 12-10-11
By: Robertson Davies
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Where Love Has Gone
- By: Harold Robbins
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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In love and soon to be a father, Luke Carey has the life he's always wanted. That is until a mysterious, late-night phone call summons him to San Francisco. Luke's first daughter, whom he hasn't seen in six years, 14-year-old Danielle, needs him, and he's desperate to do anything he can to help. But coming back into Danielle's life means facing his ex-wife, Nora, and the explosive, violent drama of the life he left behind.
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Will it ever end?
- By Amazon Customer on 04-23-22
By: Harold Robbins
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Black Boy
- By: Richard Wright
- Narrated by: Peter Francis James
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Richard Wright's powerful and eloquent memoir of his journey from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South. At once an unashamed confession and a profound indictment, Black Boy is a poignant record of struggle and endurance - a seminal literary work that illuminates our own time. The once controversial, now classic American autobiography measures the brutality and rawness of the Jim Crow South against the sheer desperate will it took to survive as a Black boy. Seventy-five years later, his words continue to reverberate.
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Outstanding
- By Trevin Harvey on 11-11-20
By: Richard Wright
What listeners say about The Dean's December
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- BarelyAudible
- 01-30-16
Another novel ruined by a poor narration.
What did you like best about The Dean's December? What did you like least?
The writing style of Saul Bellow is excellent. The story moved sloooowly. But the worst part was the narration style of S. Runnette. The guy either is trying to hide a speech impediment or learned a narration style where you reduce volume on the last syllable of words - like trying to avoid "popping your P's". But Runnette does it on just about every word.So you often don't hear the last syllable of the word he's saying. It's really annoying. I sometimes had to go back 30 secs in the recording to understand what he was saying.
Would you be willing to try another book from Saul Bellow? Why or why not?
Yes - I like his style
How did the narrator detract from the book?
But the worst part was the narration style of S. Runnette. The guy either has a speech impediment or learned a narration style where you reduce volume on the last syllable of words - like trying to avoid "popping your P's". But Runnette does it on just about every word.So you often don't hear the last syllable of the word he's saying. It's really annoying. I sometimes had to go back 30 secs in the recording to understand what he was saying.
Was The Dean's December worth the listening time?
not really
Any additional comments?
Several Saul Bellow books have wound up in my "Recommended List" based on my other selections - so I'll give another book a try.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Avid reader SB
- 11-26-20
Great Story, The Narrator Does a Fine Job
Another great story by Mr. Bellows. I’m always fascinated by writers who take a simple situation and creatively reveal the many ways we humans complicate matters. I appreciate his character development and sense of humor.
The narrator did a fine job, a review said he wasn’t annunciating the last syllable of every word. I had no trouble hearing every syllable. If I knew that reviewer personally I’d tell him that’s a first sign of hearing loss. I work in the health industry and come across this in my work. Nevertheless I like that the narrator sounds the way I imagine the main character would.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 06-11-21
Slow, but enjoyable (once)
Slow, but enjoyable (once)
This is not my favorite of Bellow. The writing is, as always, very good, but the story is quite slow and characters just plod along. There is little action. It is like a sequence of fuzzy reflections upon modern life from various perspectives without explicit analysis.
For me this was a bit like watching the paint dry on a beautiful landscape. The writing is beautiful, and there is much to notice and think about, and there is plenty of time to consider the details. Nevertheless, it is a slow processes. I may have chuckled a few times, but was never otherwise emotional, thoughtful, but not emotional. Overall I did enjoy the experience, but I am unlikely to read this novel again.
I found the narration very well reflected the author's intent.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Joe
- 05-13-15
Don't Overlook Late Bellow
What did you love best about The Dean's December?
Perfect combination of story and narrator.
What other book might you compare The Dean's December to and why?
The Dean's December is similar to Bellow's More Die of Heartbreak and Ravelstein -- late bellow seems overlooked compared to his "big" novels. If you like Richard Ford and Walker Percy, you'll like the Dean's December.
What about Sean Runnette’s performance did you like?
The narrator captured Bellow's meditative style; the book is read nice and slow and Mr Runnette has a rich deep voice. Bellow can pack more thoughts, ideas, and descriptions in one page than just about any writer. No wonder Bellow's new book is titled "There Is Simply Too Much To Think About."
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I would have loved too if I could!
Any additional comments?
Great listen; don't miss it.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Emily L. Elliott
- 12-08-21
Reader was terrible!
The reader was an unbelievable monotone! I was shocked that the book was in the Audible collection with this inflexible voice. Having listened to more than 1000 Audible books with pleasure I couldn't believe this one had passed the entry test!
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