Travels with Charley in Search of America
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Narrated by:
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Gary Sinise
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By:
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John Steinbeck
About this listen
A stunning evocation of America on the eve of a tumultuous decade—and a moving elegy for more innocent times.
In September 1960, John Steinbeck and his poodle, Charley, embarked on a journey across America, from small towns to growing cities to glorious wilderness oases. Travels with Charley is animated by Steinbeck’s attention to the specific details of the natural world and his sense of how the lives of people are intimately connected to the rhythms of nature—to weather, geography, the cycles of the seasons. His keen ear for the transactions among people is evident, too, as he records the interests and obsessions that preoccupy the Americans he encounters along the way.
©1962 John Steinbeck (P)2011 PenguinCritic reviews
"Pure delight, a pungent potpourri of places and people interspersed with bittersweet essays on everything from the emotional difficulties of growing old to the reasons why giant sequoias arouse such awe." (The New York Times Book Review)
"Profound, sympathetic, often angry...an honest moving book by one of our great writers." (The San Francisco Examiner)
"This is superior Steinbeck - a muscular, evocative report of a journey of rediscovery." (John Barkham, Saturday Review Syndicate)
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By: John Steinbeck, and others
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The Pastures of Heaven
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Today, nearly 40 years after his death, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck remains one of America's greatest writers and cultural figures. We have begun publishing his many works for the first time as Penguin Classics. This season we continue with the seven spectacular and influential books East of Eden, Cannery Row, In Dubious Battle, The Long Valley, The Moon Is Down, The Pastures of Heaven, and Tortilla Flat.
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Golden, mythical America
- By Dan Harlow on 07-07-13
By: John Steinbeck
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Blue Highways
- A Journey into America
- By: William Least Heat-Moon
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Hailed as a masterpiece of American travel writing, Blue Highways is an unforgettable journey along our nation's backroads. William Least Heat-Moon set out with little more than the need to put home behind him and a sense of curiosity about "those little towns that get on the map-if they get on at all-only because some cartographer has a blank space to fill: Remote, Oregon; Simplicity, Virginia; New Freedom, Pennsylvania; New Hope, Tennessee; Why, Arizona; Whynot, Mississippi." His adventures, his discoveries, and his recollections of the extraordinary people he encountered along the way amount to a revelation of the true American experience.
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A new Mark Twain... this is a great book
- By Mr. on 01-25-13
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The Grapes of Wrath
- By: John Steinbeck, Robert DeMott
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 21 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Shocking and controversial when it was first published in 1939, Steinbeck's Pulitzer prize-winning epic The Grapes of Wrath remains his undisputed masterpiece. Set against the background of Dust Bowl Oklahoma and Californian migrant life, it tells of Tom Joad and his family, who, like thousands of others, are forced to travel west in search of the promised land. Their story is one of false hopes, thwarted desires, and broken dreams, yet out of their suffering Steinbeck created a drama that is intensely human, yet majestic in its scale and moral vision.
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Wish I could give it 10 stars!
- By P. Minor on 07-18-14
By: John Steinbeck, and others
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In Dubious Battle
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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This 1936 novel—set in the California apple country—portrays a strike by migrant workers that metamorphoses from principled defiance into blind fanaticism.
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The best story - ever ! Awesome narrator !!!!!!!!!
- By Inventing Mostly on 03-07-15
By: John Steinbeck
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Once There Was a War
- By: John Steinbeck, Mark Bowden - editor
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1943 John Steinbeck was on assignment for The New York Herald Tribune, writing from Italy and North Africa, and from England in the midst of the London blitz. In his dispatches he focuses on the human-scale effect of the war, portraying everyone from the guys in a bomber crew to Bob Hope on his USO tour and even fighting alongside soldiers behind enemy lines. Taken together, these writings create an indelible portrait of life in wartime.
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The greatest war story(ies) ever told
- By Robert Achenbach on 07-16-15
By: John Steinbeck, and others
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The Pearl
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Hector Elizondo
- Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In this short book illuminated by a deep understanding and love of humanity, John Steinbeck retells an old Mexican folk tale: the story of the great pearl, how it was found, and how it was lost. For the diver Kino, finding a magnificent pearl means the promise of a better life for his impoverished family. His dream blinds him to the greed and suspicions the pearl arouses in him and his neighbors, and even his loving wife cannot temper his obsession or stem the events leading to the tragedy. For Steinbeck, Kino and his wife illustrate the fall from innocence of people who believe that wealth erases all problems.
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Stay poor
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 10-31-11
By: John Steinbeck
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The Moon Is Down
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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"Free men cannot start a war, but once it is started, they can fight on in defeat." This compelling, dignified and moving novel was inspired by and based upon the Nazi invasion of neutral Norway. Set in an imaginary European mining town, it shows what happens when a ruthless totalitarian power is up against an occupied democracy with an overwhelming desire to be free.
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A beautiful piece of propaganda!
- By Kelly on 05-08-17
By: John Steinbeck
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Of Mice and Men
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Gary Sinise
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Celebrating its 75th anniversary, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men remains one of America's most widely read and beloved novels. Here is Steinbeck’s dramatic adaptation of his novel-as-play, which received the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play in 1937-1938 and has featured a number of actors who have played the iconic roles of George and Lennie on stage and film, including James Earl Jones, John Malkovich and Gary Sinise.
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KETCHUP
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 01-11-17
By: John Steinbeck
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East of Eden
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 25 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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This sprawling and often brutal novel, set in the rich farmlands of California's Salinas Valley, follows the intertwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.
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Why have I avoided this Beautiful Book???
- By Kelly on 03-25-17
By: John Steinbeck
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A Russian Journal
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Steinbeck and Capa's account of their journey through Cold War Russia is a classic piece of reportage and travel writing.Just after the Iron Curtain fell on Eastern Europe, Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Steinbeck and acclaimed war photographer Robert Capa ventured into the Soviet Union to report for the New York Herald Tribune.
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Extremely Interesting
- By Jean on 12-04-14
By: John Steinbeck
What listeners say about Travels with Charley in Search of America
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mark
- 08-01-17
A really good choice for an in-between book!
If you're looking for some lighter fare while you rest from your latest thriller, this book should fit the bill. Steinbeck hits the road with his faithful companion Charley, looking to reconnect with America and the people within it, and as you'd expect from this renowned author, the story is painted with a very descriptive brush, letting your imagination place you right there in the front seat with the two of them.
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12 people found this helpful
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- psnorb
- 06-26-15
Wonderful Window into the United States of 1959.
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, very well written. Mr. Steinbeck is someone I can identify with. Fiercely independent with a strong interest in the outdoors.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Travels with Charley in Search of America?
Swimming into the bay to save his boat during a storm. His emotional ties with his dog. The harsh reality of racism in the southern states in 1959.
Have you listened to any of Gary Sinise’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
no. This is well read.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I laughed a few times in the beginning. The book ends on a serious note.
Any additional comments?
This is a well written book that is worth the credit and the time. I believe that you will definitely learn from the experience. Enjoy.
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11 people found this helpful
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- karen
- 08-25-13
Steinbeck travels
If you could sum up Travels with Charley in Search of America in three words, what would they be?
Epic in a small kind way
Who was your favorite character and why?
Steinbeck. Bears his soul in loving America and particularly the common person
What does Gary Sinise bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
He is just a superb reader. Really brings out all the characters!
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Yes. When Mr Steinbeck was talking about killing the coyotes.
Any additional comments?
His comments on the loss of regional languages resulting from TV was right on and quite sad actually!
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4 people found this helpful
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- BK
- 08-10-20
Wow!
Nothing I can add to what's already been said. I enjoyed traveling with Steinbeck and Charley around the country. Much of the book is clearly rooted in its time, but I didn't find that at all distracting -- probably because I'm old enough to have lived through much of that time. Younger listeners might feel otherwise. His description of the demonstrations in New Orleans against school integration is powerful: I could feel his rage. I think, more than anything else, what this book did was make me want to learn more about Steinbeck's life. Happily, there's a new biography coming out this fall.
Very special praise for Gary Sinise's absolutely brilliant narration!
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4 people found this helpful
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- Debster
- 06-04-18
Excellent!
Gary Sinise is just perfect (SO TALENTED!) and the story is marvelous! Thought provoking all the way. Well done!
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- Scottboze
- 10-04-15
Superb Narration
Gary Sinise does an absolutely amazing job bringing to life the wise and timeless words of one of the most influential American writers ever to put pen to paper. I only wish it were longer, as I could listen to Mr. Sinise expertly deliver Mr. Steinbeck's particular flavor of insight and sarcasm for a very long time.
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- 90ToyHauler
- 09-30-17
Social Study
Not a whole lot has changed since the 1960's timeframe that the book was written! I enjoyed this during my travels.
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- Customer Number Infinity
- 07-25-20
solid treatment of a classic
Sinise's voice was a little jarring at first, but I grew some appreciation for him, as ultimately he seemed to add some authenticity to the work. Steinbeck ruminates in abstractions quite a bit, which I didn't notice in my years-ago reading of this, so the book occasionally drags just a little. But Steinbeck's eye for character comes through and there's some fine description throughout, so this is a great look at U.S. culture at the time, among other things.
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- Smug1
- 05-17-20
A Beautifully Written Journal
Having carried a pen and journal on almost every trip I’ve taken, and come home with a few banal words on each of day one and two—I found the depth of observations amazing. How do gifted writers do it? That’s why it’s a gift, I guess.
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- Jessica Cannon
- 05-14-18
What a wonderful find!
This book was amazing to enjoy. I laughed, cried, gasped, was inspired and related to the author. I found that it was more a book about the author finding himself in relation to America in his day as well as the differences around our nation - the good and the bad. I love that Mr. Steinbeck was so transparent and didn't shy away from voicing what needed to be said.
Gary Sinise narrating was perfect. I really feel like that is the true voice of our author.
This book also inspired me to not let go of my dream of traveling along the U.S. I'm sure my experience today will in many ways be very different but, I hope to also find some of the kind and caring people our author did.
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