The Sea Is My Brother
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 $13.33
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Ray Porter
-
By:
-
Jack Kerouac
About this listen
In the spring of 1943, during a stint in the merchant marines, 21-year-old Jack Kerouac set out to write his first novel. Working diligently day and night to complete it by hand, he titled it The Sea Is My Brother. Nearly 70 years later, its long-awaited publication provides fascinating details and insight into the early life and development of an American literary icon.
Written seven years before The Town and the City officially launched his writing career, The Sea Is My Brother marks the pivotal point at which Kerouac began laying the foundations for his pioneering method and signature style. The novel chronicles the misadventures of two seamen who at first seem different but are really two sides of the same coin: 27-year-old Wesley Martin, who “loved the sea with a strange, lonely love”, and William Everhart, an assistant professor of English at Columbia College who, at 32, impulsively ships out, hoping to “escape society for the sea, but finds the sea a place of terrible loneliness.”
A clear precursor to such landmark novels as On the Road, The Dharma Bums, and Visions of Cody, it is an important formative work that bears all the hallmarks of classic Kerouac: the search for spiritual meaning in a materialistic world, spontaneous travel as the true road to freedom, late nights of intense conversation in bars and apartments, the desperate urge to escape from society, and the strange, terrible beauty of loneliness.
©2011 John Sampras, the Estate of Stella Kerouac; Introduction 2011 by Dawn Ward (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Haunted Life
- And Other Writings
- By: Jack Kerouac
- Narrated by: Liev Schreiber, Luke Daniels
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jack Kerouac wrote The Haunted Life in 1944 when he was 22 years old and attending Columbia University. Originally intended as a three-part novel, only this first 20,000-word section was ever finished. Upon its completion, Kerouac promptly lost his only hand-written final draft in a New York taxi cab, remaining unknown to the public until its appearance at Christies about ten years ago. Kerouac’s family has now decided to share this manuscript with the world.
-
-
Liev Schreiber should read more
- By Asmarranda on 04-21-21
By: Jack Kerouac
-
On the Road
- 50th Anniversary Edition
- By: Jack Kerouac
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few novels have had as profound an impact on American culture as On the Road. Pulsating with the rhythms of 1950s underground America, jazz, sex, illicit drugs, and the mystery and promise of the open road, Kerouac’s classic novel of freedom and longing defined what it meant to be “beat” and has inspired generations of writers, musicians, artists, poets, and seekers who cite their discovery of the book as the event that “set them free”.
-
-
My Favorite Narration and a Wonderful Book
- By Guillermo on 09-17-09
By: Jack Kerouac
-
Wake Up
- A Life of the Buddha
- By: Jack Kerouac
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Originally written in 1955 and now published for the first time in audiobook form, Wake Up is Kerouac's retelling of the life of Prince Siddartha Gotama, who as a young man abandoned his wealthy family and comfortable home for a lifelong searchfor Enlightenment. Distilled from a wide variety of canonical scriptures, Wake Up serves as both a penetrating account of the Buddha's life and a concise primer on the principal teachings of Buddhism.
-
-
I enjoyed Jacks biography of The Buddha
- By Joel on 07-10-23
By: Jack Kerouac
-
The Dharma Bums
- By: Jack Kerouac
- Narrated by: Ethan Hawke
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1958, a year after On the Road put the Beat Generation on the map, The Dharma Bums stands as one of Jack Kerouac's most powerful and influential novels. The story focuses on two ebullient young Americans - mountaineer, poet, and Zen Buddhist Japhy Ryder, and Ray Smith, a zestful, innocent writer - whose quest for Truth leads them on a heroic odyssey, from marathon parties and poetry jam sessions in San Francisco's Bohemia to solitude and mountain climbing in the High Sierras.
-
-
Lyrical Rendition
- By Michael E on 04-28-20
By: Jack Kerouac
-
On the Road: The Original Scroll
- By: Jack Kerouac
- Narrated by: John Ventimiglia
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Though Jack Kerouac began thinking about the novel that was to become On the Road as early as 1947, it was not until three weeks in April 1951, in an apartment on West 20th Street in Manhattan, that he wrote the first full draft that was satisfactory to him.
-
-
A Classic Brought to Life
- By Sil A. on 11-25-16
By: Jack Kerouac
-
Desolation Peak
- Collected Writings
- By: Jack Kerouac, Charles Shuttleworth - editor
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1956, Jack Kerouac hitchhiked from Mill Valley, California, to the North Cascades to spend two months serving as a fire lookout for the US Forest Service. Taking only the Diamond Sutra for reading material, he intended to spend his time in deep contemplation and to achieve enlightenment.
-
-
Kerouac at his most honest
- By MckyD’z on 12-01-22
By: Jack Kerouac, and others
-
The Haunted Life
- And Other Writings
- By: Jack Kerouac
- Narrated by: Liev Schreiber, Luke Daniels
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jack Kerouac wrote The Haunted Life in 1944 when he was 22 years old and attending Columbia University. Originally intended as a three-part novel, only this first 20,000-word section was ever finished. Upon its completion, Kerouac promptly lost his only hand-written final draft in a New York taxi cab, remaining unknown to the public until its appearance at Christies about ten years ago. Kerouac’s family has now decided to share this manuscript with the world.
-
-
Liev Schreiber should read more
- By Asmarranda on 04-21-21
By: Jack Kerouac
-
On the Road
- 50th Anniversary Edition
- By: Jack Kerouac
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few novels have had as profound an impact on American culture as On the Road. Pulsating with the rhythms of 1950s underground America, jazz, sex, illicit drugs, and the mystery and promise of the open road, Kerouac’s classic novel of freedom and longing defined what it meant to be “beat” and has inspired generations of writers, musicians, artists, poets, and seekers who cite their discovery of the book as the event that “set them free”.
-
-
My Favorite Narration and a Wonderful Book
- By Guillermo on 09-17-09
By: Jack Kerouac
-
Wake Up
- A Life of the Buddha
- By: Jack Kerouac
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Originally written in 1955 and now published for the first time in audiobook form, Wake Up is Kerouac's retelling of the life of Prince Siddartha Gotama, who as a young man abandoned his wealthy family and comfortable home for a lifelong searchfor Enlightenment. Distilled from a wide variety of canonical scriptures, Wake Up serves as both a penetrating account of the Buddha's life and a concise primer on the principal teachings of Buddhism.
-
-
I enjoyed Jacks biography of The Buddha
- By Joel on 07-10-23
By: Jack Kerouac
-
The Dharma Bums
- By: Jack Kerouac
- Narrated by: Ethan Hawke
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1958, a year after On the Road put the Beat Generation on the map, The Dharma Bums stands as one of Jack Kerouac's most powerful and influential novels. The story focuses on two ebullient young Americans - mountaineer, poet, and Zen Buddhist Japhy Ryder, and Ray Smith, a zestful, innocent writer - whose quest for Truth leads them on a heroic odyssey, from marathon parties and poetry jam sessions in San Francisco's Bohemia to solitude and mountain climbing in the High Sierras.
-
-
Lyrical Rendition
- By Michael E on 04-28-20
By: Jack Kerouac
-
On the Road: The Original Scroll
- By: Jack Kerouac
- Narrated by: John Ventimiglia
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Though Jack Kerouac began thinking about the novel that was to become On the Road as early as 1947, it was not until three weeks in April 1951, in an apartment on West 20th Street in Manhattan, that he wrote the first full draft that was satisfactory to him.
-
-
A Classic Brought to Life
- By Sil A. on 11-25-16
By: Jack Kerouac
-
Desolation Peak
- Collected Writings
- By: Jack Kerouac, Charles Shuttleworth - editor
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1956, Jack Kerouac hitchhiked from Mill Valley, California, to the North Cascades to spend two months serving as a fire lookout for the US Forest Service. Taking only the Diamond Sutra for reading material, he intended to spend his time in deep contemplation and to achieve enlightenment.
-
-
Kerouac at his most honest
- By MckyD’z on 12-01-22
By: Jack Kerouac, and others
-
The Beat Generation
- By: Christopher Gair
- Narrated by: Adrian Mulraney
- Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Beat Generation was a revolutionary group of American writers in the late 50s and early 60s who fused an open approach to literature with a bohemian lifestyle. Immortalised through Kerouac’s On the Road and Ginsberg’s Howl, their relaxed, gritty, and candid writing continues to inspire anyone drawn to the unconventional.
By: Christopher Gair
-
Fahrenheit 451
- By: Ray Bradbury
- Narrated by: Tim Robbins
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family."
-
-
Wish I Hadn't Cliff Noted This in High School
- By Joel on 03-27-17
By: Ray Bradbury
-
Lolita
- By: Vladimir Nabokov
- Narrated by: Jeremy Irons
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Awe and exhilaration—along with heartbreak and mordant wit—abound in Lolita, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsession for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America.
-
-
An Absolutely Gorgeous Audible Experience
- By Jim on 10-26-05
By: Vladimir Nabokov
-
Different Seasons
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 20 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Four gripping novellas tied together by the changing of seasons. Hope Springs Eternal - "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption": An unjustly imprisoned convict seeks a strange and startling revenge...the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award nominee The Shawshank Redemption.
-
-
Fantastic!
- By Robert A. Raymond on 02-14-16
By: Stephen King
-
All the King's Men
- By: Robert Penn Warren
- Narrated by: Michael Emerson
- Length: 20 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fictionalized account of Louisiana's colorful and notorious governor, Huey Pierce Long, All the King's Men follows the startling rise and fall of Willie Stark, a country lawyer in the Deep South of the 1930s. Beset by political enemies, Stark seeks aid from his right-hand man Jack Burden, who will bear witness to the cataclysmic unfolding of this very American tragedy.
-
-
Beautifully presented
- By Cheimon on 10-12-08
-
Welcome to the Monkey House
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: David Strathairn, Maria Tucci, Bill Irwin, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to the Monkey House is a collection of Kurt Vonnegut's shorter works. Originally printed in publications as diverse as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and The Atlantic Monthly, what these superb stories share is Vonnegut's audacious sense of humor and extraordinary range of creative vision.
-
-
Classic Vonnegut
- By Michael Carrato on 08-17-06
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
Player Piano
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kurt Vonnegut's first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a supercomputer and run completely by machines. Paul's rebellion is vintage Vonnegut – wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality.
-
-
A Genuine 5-Stars
- By R.A. on 06-07-19
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
The Fires of Spring
- A Novel
- By: James A. Michener
- Narrated by: Larry McKeever
- Length: 24 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Harper is an orphan, seemingly doomed to loneliness and poverty. As an adolescent con artist and petty thief, David spends his days grifting at an amusement park, the place where he first learns about women and the mysteries of love. Soon he discovers that his longing to embrace the world is stronger than the harsh realities that constrain him. Featuring autobiographical touches from Michener's own life story, The Fires of Spring is more than a novel: it's a rich slice of American life, brimming with wisdom, longing, and compassion.
-
-
Not Your Typical Michener Story
- By Jay on 08-06-16
-
Old School
- By: Tobias Wolff
- Narrated by: Dan Cashman
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Determined to fit in at his New England prep school, the narrator has learned to mimic the bearing and manners of his adoptive tribe while concealing as much as possible about himself. His final year, however, unravels everything he’s achieved and steers his destiny in directions no one could have predicted.
-
-
listen to this
- By Surf on 11-18-20
By: Tobias Wolff
-
Mr. Vertigo
- By: Paul Auster
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is the late 1920's, the era of Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh, and Al Capone, and Walt is a Saint Louis orphan rescued from the streets by the mysterious Hungarian Master Yehudi, who teaches Walt to walk on air. The vaudeville act that results from Walt's marvelous new abiltiy takes them across a vast and vibrant country, where they meet and fall prey to sinners, thieves, and villains, from the Kansas Ku Klux Klan to the Chicago mob.
-
-
I take it all back! Love the book
- By Chris Reich on 07-24-15
By: Paul Auster
-
Nightmares and Geezenstacks
- By: Fredric Brown
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 5 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the great pulp writers, Fredric Brown (1906-1972) combined a flair for the horrific, a quirky sense of humor, and a wild imagination, and published many classic novels in the mystery and science fiction genres. But he was also a master of the "short-short story", tales only a page or two in length, but hard-hitting and with a wicked twist at the end.
-
-
The stories are fun and quick
- By Midwestbonsai on 04-01-18
By: Fredric Brown
-
The Largesse of the Sea Maiden
- Stories
- By: Denis Johnson
- Narrated by: Nick Offerman, Michael Shannon, Dermot Mulroney, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Largesse of the Sea Maiden is the long-awaited new story collection from Denis Johnson. Written in the luminous prose that made him one of the most beloved and important writers of his generation, this collection finds Johnson in new territory, contemplating the ghosts of the past and the elusive and unexpected ways the mysteries of the universe assert themselves.
-
-
His Tumulus of Stunning Sirenic Stories
- By W Perry Hall on 03-01-18
By: Denis Johnson
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
On the Road: The Original Scroll
- By: Jack Kerouac
- Narrated by: John Ventimiglia
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Though Jack Kerouac began thinking about the novel that was to become On the Road as early as 1947, it was not until three weeks in April 1951, in an apartment on West 20th Street in Manhattan, that he wrote the first full draft that was satisfactory to him.
-
-
A Classic Brought to Life
- By Sil A. on 11-25-16
By: Jack Kerouac
-
Fahrenheit 451
- By: Ray Bradbury
- Narrated by: Tim Robbins
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family."
-
-
Wish I Hadn't Cliff Noted This in High School
- By Joel on 03-27-17
By: Ray Bradbury
-
Welcome to the Monkey House
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: David Strathairn, Maria Tucci, Bill Irwin, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to the Monkey House is a collection of Kurt Vonnegut's shorter works. Originally printed in publications as diverse as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and The Atlantic Monthly, what these superb stories share is Vonnegut's audacious sense of humor and extraordinary range of creative vision.
-
-
Classic Vonnegut
- By Michael Carrato on 08-17-06
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
The Lost Weekend
- By: Charles Jackson
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1936, and on the East Side of Manhattan, a would-be writer named Don Birnam decides to have a drink. And then another, and then another, until he's in the midst of what becomes a five-day binge. A classic tale of one man's struggle with alcoholism, this revolutionary novel remains Charles Jackson's best-known book - a daring autobiographical work that paved the way for contemporary addiction literature.
-
-
What a terrific audiobook!
- By Bill on 11-10-14
By: Charles Jackson
-
Going to Meet the Man
- By: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"There's no way not to suffer. But you try all kinds of ways to keep from drowning in it." The men and women in these eight short fictions grasp this truth on an elemental level, and their stories, as told by James Baldwin, detail the ingenious and often desperate ways in which they try to keep their heads above water.
-
-
Punch in the gut
- By Rebecca on 05-08-17
By: James Baldwin
-
Humboldt's Gift
- By: Saul Bellow
- Narrated by: Christopher Hurt
- Length: 18 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For years, they were the best of friends: the grand, erratic Humboldt and the ambitious young Charlie. But now Humboldt has died a failure, and Charlie's success-ridden life has taken various turns for the worse. Then Humboldt acts from the grave to change Charlie's life: he has left Charlie something in his will.
-
-
Great Book, Great Reader
- By Scott on 05-10-08
By: Saul Bellow
-
On the Road: The Original Scroll
- By: Jack Kerouac
- Narrated by: John Ventimiglia
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Though Jack Kerouac began thinking about the novel that was to become On the Road as early as 1947, it was not until three weeks in April 1951, in an apartment on West 20th Street in Manhattan, that he wrote the first full draft that was satisfactory to him.
-
-
A Classic Brought to Life
- By Sil A. on 11-25-16
By: Jack Kerouac
-
Fahrenheit 451
- By: Ray Bradbury
- Narrated by: Tim Robbins
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family."
-
-
Wish I Hadn't Cliff Noted This in High School
- By Joel on 03-27-17
By: Ray Bradbury
-
Welcome to the Monkey House
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: David Strathairn, Maria Tucci, Bill Irwin, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to the Monkey House is a collection of Kurt Vonnegut's shorter works. Originally printed in publications as diverse as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and The Atlantic Monthly, what these superb stories share is Vonnegut's audacious sense of humor and extraordinary range of creative vision.
-
-
Classic Vonnegut
- By Michael Carrato on 08-17-06
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
The Lost Weekend
- By: Charles Jackson
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1936, and on the East Side of Manhattan, a would-be writer named Don Birnam decides to have a drink. And then another, and then another, until he's in the midst of what becomes a five-day binge. A classic tale of one man's struggle with alcoholism, this revolutionary novel remains Charles Jackson's best-known book - a daring autobiographical work that paved the way for contemporary addiction literature.
-
-
What a terrific audiobook!
- By Bill on 11-10-14
By: Charles Jackson
-
Going to Meet the Man
- By: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"There's no way not to suffer. But you try all kinds of ways to keep from drowning in it." The men and women in these eight short fictions grasp this truth on an elemental level, and their stories, as told by James Baldwin, detail the ingenious and often desperate ways in which they try to keep their heads above water.
-
-
Punch in the gut
- By Rebecca on 05-08-17
By: James Baldwin
-
Humboldt's Gift
- By: Saul Bellow
- Narrated by: Christopher Hurt
- Length: 18 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For years, they were the best of friends: the grand, erratic Humboldt and the ambitious young Charlie. But now Humboldt has died a failure, and Charlie's success-ridden life has taken various turns for the worse. Then Humboldt acts from the grave to change Charlie's life: he has left Charlie something in his will.
-
-
Great Book, Great Reader
- By Scott on 05-10-08
By: Saul Bellow
-
Despair
- By: Vladimir Nabokov
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Extensively revised by Nabokov in 1965 - 30 years after its original publication - Despair is the wickedly inventive and richly derisive story of Hermann, a man who undertakes the perfect crime: his own murder. One of the 20th century’s master prose stylists, Vladimir Nabokov was born in St. Petersburg in 1899. He studied French and Russian literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, then lived in Berlin and Paris, where he launched a brilliant literary career. In 1940 he moved to the United States, and achieved renown as a novelist, poet, critic, and translator.
-
-
Russian emigre candy dandy murderers R my weakness
- By Darwin8u on 10-02-12
By: Vladimir Nabokov
-
Stories
- All-New Tales
- By: Neil Gaiman - author/editor, Al Sarrantonio - editor, Joe Hill, and others
- Narrated by: Anne Bobby, Jonathan Davis, Katherine Kellgren, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The best stories pull readers in and keep them turning the pages, eager to discover more—to find the answer to the question: "And then what happened?" The true hallmark of great literature is great imagination, and as Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio prove with this outstanding collection, when it comes to great fiction, all genres are equal.
-
-
Something for Everyone
- By Nicole on 05-24-17
By: Neil Gaiman - author/editor, and others
-
Player Piano
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kurt Vonnegut's first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a supercomputer and run completely by machines. Paul's rebellion is vintage Vonnegut – wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality.
-
-
A Genuine 5-Stars
- By R.A. on 06-07-19
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
Cannery Row
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Jerry Farden
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Published in 1945, Cannery Row focuses on the acceptance of life as it is: both the exuberance of community and the loneliness of the individual. Drawing on his memories of the real inhabitants of Monterey, California, Steinbeck interweaves the stories of Doc, Henri, Mack and his boys, and the other characters in this world where only the fittest survive, to create a novel that is at once one of his most humorous and most poignant works.
-
-
Five stars with a Caveat
- By Bette on 04-23-12
By: John Steinbeck
-
Marjorie Morningstar
- By: Herman Wouk
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 28 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marjorie Morningstar is a love story. It presents one of the greatest characters in modern fiction: Marjorie, the pretty 17-year-old who left the respectability of New York's Central Park West to join the theater, live in the teeming streets of Greenwich Village, and seek love in the arms of a brilliant, enigmatic writer.
-
-
Great story with really cheesy narration
- By James on 05-05-12
By: Herman Wouk
-
A Fraction of the Whole
- By: Steve Toltz
- Narrated by: Colin McPhillamy, Craig Baldwin
- Length: 25 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stewing in an Australian prison, Jasper Dean reflects on his relationship with his dead father and recounts the many zany adventures they shared together.
-
-
A Funny and Thought-provoking Tale of Human Nature
- By Asha Ember on 01-27-10
By: Steve Toltz
-
An American Dream
- By: Norman Mailer
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Stephen Rojack, a decorated war hero and former congressman who murders his wife in a fashionable New York City high-rise, runs amok through the city in which he was once a privileged citizen, author Norman Mailer peels away the layers of our social norms to reveal a world of pure appetite and relentless cruelty. One part Nietzsche, one part de Sade, and one part Charlie Parker, An American Dream grabs the listener by the throat and refuses to let go.
-
-
Mailers Immodest masterpiece
- By W C Woods on 07-02-20
By: Norman Mailer
-
Sunny's Nights
- Lost and Found at the Bar at the End of the World
- By: Tim Sultan
- Narrated by: Robert Malloch
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Imagine that Alice had walked into a bar instead of falling down the rabbit hole. In the tradition of J. R. Moehringer’s The Tender Bar and the classic reportage of Joseph Mitchell, here is an indelible portrait of what is quite possibly the greatest bar in the world—and the mercurial, magnificent man behind it. The first time he saw Sunny’s Bar, in 1995, Tim Sultan was lost, thirsty for a drink, and intrigued by the single bar sign among the forlorn warehouses lining the Brooklyn waterfront.
-
-
Visiting an Era
- By Carolyn on 03-01-16
By: Tim Sultan
-
City of Night
- By: John Rechy
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 17 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When John Rechy's explosive first novel appeared in 1963, it marked a radical departure in fiction, and gave voice to a subculture that had never before been revealed with such acuity. It earned comparisons to Genet and Kerouac, even as Rechy was personally attacked by scandalized reviewers. Nevertheless, the book became an international best seller, and 50 years later, it has become a classic. Bold and inventive in style, Rechy is unflinching in his portrayal of one hustling "youngman" and his search for self-knowledge.
-
-
A seminal classic
- By Robert Simmons on 09-22-19
By: John Rechy
-
Peyton Place
- By: Grace Metalious
- Narrated by: Tim O'Connor
- Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1956, when this novel was first published, communities all over New England snapped up copies to see if they were the town portrayed in the book. Peyton Place is the story of a repressive New England town known for its high standards of public morality, and the steamy sexual activities that take place behind its bedroom doors.
-
-
Best book I've read to date!
- By Crusader on 11-07-11
By: Grace Metalious
-
Lolita
- By: Vladimir Nabokov
- Narrated by: Jeremy Irons
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Awe and exhilaration—along with heartbreak and mordant wit—abound in Lolita, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsession for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America.
-
-
An Absolutely Gorgeous Audible Experience
- By Jim on 10-26-05
By: Vladimir Nabokov
-
Look Homeward, Angel
- By: Thomas Wolfe
- Narrated by: Scott Sowers
- Length: 26 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The works of Thomas Wolfe cemented his legacy as one of the very best of the American Southern writers. Wolfe's largely autobiographical novel features Eugene Gant, who pines for a more expansive life after being born to a father whose bouts of maniacal raving are fueled by a prodigious appetite for drink.
-
-
One Of The Gret Novels Of The 20th Century
- By Eric on 02-22-09
By: Thomas Wolfe
What listeners say about The Sea Is My Brother
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ingrid
- 08-20-12
A fantastic romp of a tale! A great narrator too!
If you could sum up The Sea Is My Brother in three words, what would they be?
A great romp of a tale!
What did you like best about this story?
The plot and characters...developed so quickly and with gusto!
Which character – as performed by Ray Porter – was your favorite?
Martin
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Laughed a bit...
Any additional comments?
thanks!
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
- Steven
- 12-22-21
I guess it’s ok
I didn’t hate it. But. It didn’t fulfill a single storyline. Just kinda meandered and then ended as abruptly as it began. Seemed like a tease to me. Whether or not that was intentional is up for debate.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Daniel ZEHE
- 04-17-23
Humble beginnings for Kerouac
I consider Kerouac to be my favorite author due to the works of On The Road and Dharma bums alone. Coming from that end of his works, I’ve progressed back to his beginnings here with this book and it shocked me! This book is so SOBER, and anyone who loves Kerouac knows that SOBER is entirely different from his later works, or really his life at all.
I loved this book, I loved Kerouac’s prose, direct story telling.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lauren O.M.
- 11-26-17
Like A Thrift Store Treasure
Knowing this is Jack before he was officially "Kerouac" gave me the same warm thrills as finding a perfectly scuffed little treasure in a thrift store. I enjoyed every line of this young Jack and noticed the way he wrote himself into every character. Noticed the way he lodged various splinters of his identity, whether present or prophetic, into the lives of any man with a line in this book. Being so young and unseasoned, he might've done this to inflate the imaginary world still lacking his personal evolution. As I said, this is Jack before Kerouac and in that fact alone rests several hours of historical happiness for the Beat nuts of today.
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
- Anthony
- 02-17-14
For Kerouac fans
This story, on its own, it nothing special. It is unfinished and lacks the signature style that Kerouac is known for. It is however a very interesting look at the early formation of Jack's writing and a glimpse of his first attempt to walk the thin line between fact and fiction. If you love Kerouac's work, you'll probably like this as well. If you have never read any of his other stories, you may be disappointed with this one. Narration is top notch. As usual, Ray Porter knocks it out of the park. He is tied, in my mind, with George Guidall for best audio book voice actor.
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
- J. Keith Snyder
- 10-09-21
As promised...
Kerouac's first unpublished novel which demonstrated his developing style. You should be enthusiastic about Kerouac and be prepared to place it in the context of his entire body of work.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Betty
- 04-05-12
EARLY KEROUAC AND THE BEAT GENERATION
This is Kerouac at his youngest, if not his best. It was written in 1943 and published in 2012, long after his death. This book is relatively short. It left me looking for the next page. Perhaps that is why the written manuscript lay unpublished for 70 years.
The opening action is in New York in the late 1930’s-early 1940’s. These years were part of the era dubbed The Beat Generation. They were portrayed as a group of young, intellectuals, writers, college dropouts and unemployed men searching for goals and purpose in the years between WWI and WWII.
Two of this group meet, and finally decide to join the Merchant Marines rather than wait around for draft calls. Wesley Martin,is the son of a bartender. Not having money for college, but having a keen intellect, he chose to earn and learn from his travels in the real world in the Merchant Marines. He is a risk taker, unusually curious about people and places and has difficulty with self-discipline. He has a rich inner life and seeks solitude as well as rousing good times with his buddies.
He meets Bill Eberhart when he picks up a girl who is with a party at a bar. Bill Eberhart is an Assistant Professor at Columbia University, searching for a higher meaning in the greater society, wondering if the Marxist revolution in Russia might be the path. He is questioning the value of teaching English Literature to bored students in his quest for purpose in his live.
Kerouac develops the characters of the two men as he traces their growing friendship. Ultimately, Bill decides to join Wesley and sign on as a seaman on Wesley’s Merchant Marine vessel to learn from life experience rather than books. They end up hitch-hiking up the east coast to join up with Wesley’s ship. Kerouac’s unique writing style and his questing themes are seen even at his young age. His easy use of the English language is already impressive.
I highly recommend this first novel by a classic American writer as an introduction to Kerouac and The Beat Generation.
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
- Paula Franklin
- 04-16-12
A great listen
Where does The Sea Is My Brother rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Jack Kerouac is a master of words and combined with Ray Porter's melodious voice make a wonderful story from a time past come to life.
Which character – as performed by Ray Porter – was your favorite?
Wesley Martin
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mike Diaz
- 06-17-24
Stop ACTING!!
Since this was Kerouacs first book, i knew it wasn’t going to be good. I went in fully expecting it, it was a curiosity to see how he grew as a writer. But this READER…he was great until he started ACTING! I HATE when readers try to act, especially if they don’t know how and hate it twice as much when they SING for the character, don’t know the tune and have no voice for it. JUST READ! The tale was tiresome enough with all the adverbs but it was UNLISTENABLE when did characters, the feminine ones were most irritating. JUST READ!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!