
Viewfinder
A Memoir of Seeing and Being Seen
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
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jon M. Chu
About this listen
From visionary director Jon M. Chu comes a powerful, inspiring memoir of belonging, creativity, and learning to see who you really are.
“A must-read for aspiring artists and dreamers of all kinds.”—Ava DuVernay
Long before he directed Wicked, In The Heights, or the groundbreaking film Crazy Rich Asians, Jon M. Chu was a movie-obsessed first-generation Chinese American, helping at his parents’ Chinese restaurant in Silicon Valley and forever facing the cultural identity crisis endemic to children of immigrants. Growing up on the cutting edge of twenty-first-century technology gave Chu the tools he needed to make his mark at USC film school, and to be discovered by Steven Spielberg, but he soon found himself struggling to understand who he was. In this book, for the first time, Chu turns the lens on his own life and work, telling the universal story of questioning what it means when your dreams collide with your circumstances, and showing how it’s possible to succeed even when the world changes beyond all recognition.
With striking candor and unrivaled insights, Chu offers a firsthand account of the collision of Silicon Valley and Hollywood—what it’s been like to watch his old world shatter and reshape his new one. Ultimately, Viewfinder is about reckoning with your own story, becoming your most creative self, and finding a path all your own.
©2024 Jon M. Chu (P)2024 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
There's Nothing Like This
- The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift
- By: Kevin Evers
- Narrated by: Candace Joice
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Singer-songwriter. Trailblazer. Mastermind. The Beatles of her generation. From her genre-busting rise in country music as a teenager to the economic juggernaut that is the Eras Tour, Taylor Swift has blazed a path that is uniquely hers. But how exactly has she managed to scale her success—multiple times—while dominating an industry that cycles through artists and stars like fashion trends? How has she managed to make and remake herself time and again while remaining true to her artistic vision?
-
-
So boring
- By Mo Siegel on 05-02-25
By: Kevin Evers
-
Who Do I Think I Am?
- Stories of Chola Wishes and Caviar Dreams
- By: Anjelah Johnson-Reyes
- Narrated by: Anjelah Johnson-Reyes
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You may know Anjelah Johnson for her viral sketch "Nail Salon" (over 100 million views globally) or her beloved ghetto-fabulous MadTV character Bon Qui Qui, but it's her clean humor and hilarious storytelling that make her one of the most successful stand-up comedians and actresses today. With her razor-sharp wit, Anjelah recounts funny stories from her journey.
-
-
Funny, Deep and Does not Disappoint
- By Book Cook on 04-09-22
-
I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying
- A Memoir
- By: Youngmi Mayer
- Narrated by: Youngmi Mayer
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In I’m Laughing Because I’m Crying, Youngmi jokes through the retelling of her childhood as an offbeat biracial kid in Saipan, a place next to a place that Americans might know. She jokes through her difficult adolescence where she must parent her own parents: a mother who married her husband because he looked like white Jesus (and the singer of The Bee Gees). And with humor and irreverence and full-throated openness, she jokes even while sharing the story of what her family went through during the last century of colonialism and war in Korea.
-
-
not sure
- By Amazon_Customer on 04-24-25
By: Youngmi Mayer
-
The Road Is Good
- How a Mother's Strength Became a Daughter's Purpose
- By: Uzo Aduba
- Narrated by: Uzo Aduba
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The actress Uzo Aduba came of age grappling with a master juggling act: as one of few Black families in their white Massachusetts suburb, she and her siblings were the unexpected presence in whatever school room or sports team they joined. But Aduba was also rooted by a fierce and nonnegotiable sense of belonging and extraordinary worth that stemmed from her mother’s powerful vision for her children, and their connection to generations of family in Nigeria.
-
-
Amazing Journey - Well Written
- By Milissa Watkins on 04-04-25
By: Uzo Aduba
-
Me
- Elton John Official Autobiography
- By: Elton John
- Narrated by: Elton John, Taron Egerton
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his first and only official autobiography, music icon Elton John reveals the truth about his extraordinary life, from his roller-coaster lifestyle as shown in the film Rocketman, to becoming a living legend.
-
-
A Book as Extraordinary as Elton
- By Tracey Brown on 10-17-19
By: Elton John
-
Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Toshikazu Kawaguchi Book Set
- By: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
- Narrated by: Arina Ii, Kevin Shen
- Length: 18 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would you do if you could travel back in time? Discover the internationally bestselling novels of Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, now a worldwide phenomenon and BookTok sensation, in this special new book set. Step inside Tokyo’s whimsical Café Funiculi Funicula and travel back in time with a cast of unforgettable characters.
-
-
very profound, lost in translation?
- By Ashlyn C. on 10-06-23
-
There's Nothing Like This
- The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift
- By: Kevin Evers
- Narrated by: Candace Joice
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Singer-songwriter. Trailblazer. Mastermind. The Beatles of her generation. From her genre-busting rise in country music as a teenager to the economic juggernaut that is the Eras Tour, Taylor Swift has blazed a path that is uniquely hers. But how exactly has she managed to scale her success—multiple times—while dominating an industry that cycles through artists and stars like fashion trends? How has she managed to make and remake herself time and again while remaining true to her artistic vision?
-
-
So boring
- By Mo Siegel on 05-02-25
By: Kevin Evers
-
Who Do I Think I Am?
- Stories of Chola Wishes and Caviar Dreams
- By: Anjelah Johnson-Reyes
- Narrated by: Anjelah Johnson-Reyes
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You may know Anjelah Johnson for her viral sketch "Nail Salon" (over 100 million views globally) or her beloved ghetto-fabulous MadTV character Bon Qui Qui, but it's her clean humor and hilarious storytelling that make her one of the most successful stand-up comedians and actresses today. With her razor-sharp wit, Anjelah recounts funny stories from her journey.
-
-
Funny, Deep and Does not Disappoint
- By Book Cook on 04-09-22
-
I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying
- A Memoir
- By: Youngmi Mayer
- Narrated by: Youngmi Mayer
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In I’m Laughing Because I’m Crying, Youngmi jokes through the retelling of her childhood as an offbeat biracial kid in Saipan, a place next to a place that Americans might know. She jokes through her difficult adolescence where she must parent her own parents: a mother who married her husband because he looked like white Jesus (and the singer of The Bee Gees). And with humor and irreverence and full-throated openness, she jokes even while sharing the story of what her family went through during the last century of colonialism and war in Korea.
-
-
not sure
- By Amazon_Customer on 04-24-25
By: Youngmi Mayer
-
The Road Is Good
- How a Mother's Strength Became a Daughter's Purpose
- By: Uzo Aduba
- Narrated by: Uzo Aduba
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The actress Uzo Aduba came of age grappling with a master juggling act: as one of few Black families in their white Massachusetts suburb, she and her siblings were the unexpected presence in whatever school room or sports team they joined. But Aduba was also rooted by a fierce and nonnegotiable sense of belonging and extraordinary worth that stemmed from her mother’s powerful vision for her children, and their connection to generations of family in Nigeria.
-
-
Amazing Journey - Well Written
- By Milissa Watkins on 04-04-25
By: Uzo Aduba
-
Me
- Elton John Official Autobiography
- By: Elton John
- Narrated by: Elton John, Taron Egerton
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his first and only official autobiography, music icon Elton John reveals the truth about his extraordinary life, from his roller-coaster lifestyle as shown in the film Rocketman, to becoming a living legend.
-
-
A Book as Extraordinary as Elton
- By Tracey Brown on 10-17-19
By: Elton John
-
Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Toshikazu Kawaguchi Book Set
- By: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
- Narrated by: Arina Ii, Kevin Shen
- Length: 18 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would you do if you could travel back in time? Discover the internationally bestselling novels of Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, now a worldwide phenomenon and BookTok sensation, in this special new book set. Step inside Tokyo’s whimsical Café Funiculi Funicula and travel back in time with a cast of unforgettable characters.
-
-
very profound, lost in translation?
- By Ashlyn C. on 10-06-23
-
The Next Day
- Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward
- By: Melinda French Gates
- Narrated by: Melinda French Gates
- Length: 3 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a rare window into some of her life’s pivotal moments, Melinda French Gates draws from previously untold stories to offer a new perspective on encountering transitions. Melinda will reflect on some of the most significant transitions in her own life, including becoming a parent, the death of a dear friend, and her departure from the Gates Foundation. The stories she tells illuminate universal lessons about loosening the bonds of perfectionism, helping friends navigate times of crisis, embracing uncertainty, and more.
-
-
So much wisdom
- By Michelle Hicks on 04-16-25
-
Defy
- The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes
- By: Dr. Sunita Sah
- Narrated by: Dr. Sunita Sah
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many of us comply much more than we realize. How many times have you wanted to object, disagree, or opt out of something but ended up swallowing your words, shaking your head, and just going along? Analyzing cases ranging from corporate corruption and sexual abuse to everyday acquiescence at work, the doctor’s office, and in our personal lives, award-winning organizational psychologist Dr. Sunita Sah delves deep into why the pressure to comply is a corrosive and often invisible force in our society.
-
-
Impactful
- By Allison Fullhart on 05-01-25
By: Dr. Sunita Sah
-
Boat Baby
- By: Vicky Nguyen
- Narrated by: Vicky Nguyen
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Starting in 1975, Vietnam’s “boat people”—desperate families seeking freedom—fled the Communist government and violence in their country any way they could, usually by boat across the South China Sea. Vicky Nguyen and her family were among them. Attacked at sea by pirates before reaching a refugee camp in Malaysia, Vicky’s family survived on rations and waited months until they were sponsored to America. But deciding to leave and start a new life in a new country is half the story…figuring out how to be American is the other.
-
-
Courageous, insightful and Funny
- By Bobbi on 05-04-25
By: Vicky Nguyen
-
Lorne
- The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live
- By: Susan Morrison
- Narrated by: Kristen DiMercurio, Susan Morrison
- Length: 22 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the fifty years that Lorne Michaels has been at the helm of Saturday Night Live, he has become a revered and inimitable presence in the entertainment world. He’s a tastemaker, a mogul, a withholding father figure, a genius spotter of talent, a shrewd businessman, a name-dropper, a raconteur, the inspiration for Dr. Evil, the winner of more than a hundred Emmys—and, essentially, a mystery. Generations of writers and performers have spent their lives trying to figure him out, by turns demonizing and lionizing him.
-
-
Great read but several weird mispronunciations
- By Larry Carlat on 02-20-25
By: Susan Morrison
-
Don't Say Um
- How to Communicate Effectively to Live a Better Life
- By: Michael Chad Hoeppner
- Narrated by: Michael Chad Hoeppner
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Michael Chad Hoeppner has coached presidential candidates, prominent CEOs, and Ivy League deans on their communication skills. Now, he shares his wide‑ranging knowledge in Don't Say Um. Hoeppner has created an entirely new approach to communication training, providing physical exercises to quickly improve speaking. With simple-to-master exercises, Don’t Say Um is an essential tool for improving your speech. Don't Say Um challenges our preconceived notions of good speaking techniques and offers powerful tools to become master communicators.
-
-
This is a great advance in personal communications.
- By Sean on 01-28-25
-
How Sondheim Can Change Your Life
- By: Richard Schoch
- Narrated by: Shaun Taylor-Corbett
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stephen Sondheim died on November 26, 2021, but for countless fans around the world, he is “still here,” to quote one of his lyrics. With acclaimed revivals of his landmark shows occurring around the world and introducing new generations to the man who transformed American musical theater, Sondheim’s legacy has only grown. What is it about such classic songs as “Rose’s Turn” from Gypsy, “Send in the Clowns” from A Little Night Music, and “Children Will Listen” from Into the Woods that speaks to us so intimately and profoundly?
-
-
Putting It Together
- By 0 Stars on 12-06-24
By: Richard Schoch
-
A Kid from Marlboro Road
- By: Edward Burns
- Narrated by: Edward Burns
- Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In A Kid from Marlboro Road, past and present intermingle as family stories are told and retold. The narrative careens between the prior generation’s colorful sojourns in the Bronx and Hell’s Kitchen and the softer world of Gibson, the town on Long Island where they live now. There are scenes in the Rockaways, at Belmont racetrack, and in Montauk. Edward Burns’s buoyant first novel is a bildungsroman, yet out of one boy’s story a collective warmth emerges, a certain kind of American tale, raucous and joyous.
-
-
Marlboro Road
- By Elizabeth K. Scheer on 11-11-24
By: Edward Burns
-
It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time
- The Worst TV Shows in History and Other Things I Wrote
- By: Bruce Vilanch
- Narrated by: Bruce Vilanch
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bruce Vilanch is known as a go-to comedy writer for award shows, sitcoms, and top-heavy variety specials, but he has also been responsible for quite a few of the worst shows ever put on television—legendarily bad productions. It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time is a lifetime reflection of what Vilanch has experienced, learned, forgotten, dismissed, and embraced in decades of working in show business
-
-
For show biz lovers
- By Sarasota on 03-07-25
By: Bruce Vilanch
-
Connie
- A Memoir
- By: Connie Chung
- Narrated by: Connie Chung
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Connie Chung is a pioneer. In 1969 at the age of 23, this once-shy daughter of Chinese parents took her first job at a local TV station in her hometown of Washington, D.C. and soon thereafter began working at CBS news as a correspondent. Profoundly influenced by her family’s cultural traditions, yet growing up completely Americanized in the United States, Chung describes her career as an Asian woman in a white male-centered world.
-
-
Superb.
- By Sondra W. Walters on 02-02-25
By: Connie Chung
-
Master of Me
- The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative
- By: Keke Palmer
- Narrated by: Keke Palmer
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Keke Palmer thought she knew who she was. What it means to be a good person and what it takes to be a success. It all seemed so simple, until she realized the challenges she would have to face to prove to herself who she wanted to be. From feeling alienated to having to restart her career after ten years in to becoming a single mother just months after her son was born—everything she worked for in life that she felt granted her what she wanted now also reminded her that “life is going to life” and throw curveballs regardless of what you deserve.
-
-
Self-Help Book in Disguise
- By Anonymous User on 03-28-25
By: Keke Palmer
-
Mothers and Sons
- A Novel
- By: Adam Haslett
- Narrated by: Andrew Gibson, Janet Metzger
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At forty, Peter, an asylum lawyer in New York City, is overworked and isolated. He spends his days immersed in the struggles of immigrants only to return to an empty apartment and occasional hook-ups with a man who wants more than Peter can give. But when the asylum case of a young gay man pierces Peter's numbness, the event that he has avoided for twenty years returns to haunt him. Ann, his mother, who runs a women's retreat center she founded after leaving his father, is wounded by the estrangement from Peter but cherishes the world she has built.
-
-
Good multiple narrators. Tiresome characters.
- By CoastalReader on 02-20-25
By: Adam Haslett
-
Boy from the Valleys
- My unexpected journey
- By: Luke Evans
- Narrated by: Luke Evans
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this intimate memoir, Luke takes us behind the scenes of his career on the stage and screen. He writes beautifully of the relationship he now has with his family and the respect they all have for one another on their different paths. Luke's story is a powerful tale of resilience, courage, and the pursuit of finding a sense of belonging and identity, but mostly (and hopefully) a story of inspiration.
-
-
There is always hope
- By NYGiantsGal on 11-25-24
By: Luke Evans
Critic reviews
“With Viewfinder, Jon Chu has written a profoundly inspiring book that reminds the reader of the power of dreams and the importance of remaining determined and focused even when—especially when—faced with adversity. A story of identity, creativity and the spirit of an artist, this vicarious journey is moving, funny, heart-wrenching, and relatable to anyone trying to carve out their place in this world.”—J.J. Abrams
“On any given day of filming, Jon Chu finds what’s magic about the day and finds a way to capture it. He takes big swings and dreams big dreams but never loses sight of the beating heart at the center of the story he’s telling. I wish this book had been around when I was younger. I’m so grateful it’s here now.”—Lin-Manuel Miranda
“Heartfelt, candid and wise beyond words, this deeply insightful and wonderfully inspirational memoir by a true storyteller is an absolute must-read.”—Michelle Yeoh
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Run Towards the Danger
- Confrontations with a Body of Memory
- By: Sarah Polley
- Narrated by: Sarah Polley
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this extraordinary book, Sarah Polley explores what it is to live in one’s body, in a constant state of becoming, learning, and changing. Each of these six essays captures a piece of Polley’s life as she remembers it, while at the same time examining the fallibility of memory, the mutability of reality in the mind, and the possibility of experiencing the past anew, as the person she is now but was not then. As Polley writes, the past and present are in a “reciprocal pressure dance.”
-
-
Really Just a Book About Her Diffcult Moments
- By Andrew on 03-11-22
By: Sarah Polley
-
Breaking Through
- My Life in Science
- By: Katalin Karikó
- Narrated by: Eva Magyar
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Katalin Karikó has had an unlikely journey. The daughter of a butcher in postwar communist Hungary, Karikó grew up in an adobe home that lacked running water, and her family grew their own vegetables. She saw the wonders of nature all around her and was determined to become a scientist. That determination eventually brought her to the United States, where she arrived as a postdoctoral fellow in 1985 with $1,200 sewn into her toddler’s teddy bear and a dream to remake medicine.
-
-
The heartfelt story of a resilient scientist
- By Anonymous User on 04-01-25
By: Katalin Karikó
-
The Lucky Ones
- A Memoir
- By: Zara Chowdhary
- Narrated by: Zara Chowdhary
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2002, Zara Chowdhary is sixteen years old and living with her family in Ahmedabad, one of India’s fastest-growing cities, when a gruesome train fire claims the lives of sixty Hindu right-wing volunteers and upends the life of five million Muslims. Instead of taking her school exams that week, Zara is put under a three-month siege, with her family and thousands of others fearing for their lives as Hindu neighbors, friends, and members of civil society transform overnight into bloodthirsty mobs, hunting and massacring their fellow citizens.
-
-
Life under Modi
- By C. C. Kissinger on 08-09-24
By: Zara Chowdhary
-
Opposable Thumbs
- How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever
- By: Matt Singer
- Narrated by: Matt Singer
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a cold Saturday afternoon in 1975, two men (who had known each other for eight years before they’d ever exchanged a word) met for lunch in a Chicago pub. Gene Siskel was the film critic for the Chicago Tribune. Roger Ebert had recently won the Pulitzer Prize—the first ever awarded to a film critic—for his work at the Chicago Sun-Times. To say they despised each other was an understatement.
-
-
Good book. But unless you are a standup comedian, or an actor, you shouldn’t read a book you wrote
- By Jerry Thompson on 03-14-24
By: Matt Singer
-
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl
- A Memoir
- By: Carrie Brownstein
- Narrated by: Carrie Brownstein
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the guitarist of the pioneering band Sleater-Kinney, the book Kim Gordon says "everyone has been waiting for" and a New York Times Notable Book of 2015 - a candid, funny, and deeply personal look at making a life - and finding yourself - in music. Before Carrie Brownstein became a music icon, she was a young girl growing up in the Pacific Northwest just as it was becoming the setting for one the most important movements in rock history.
-
-
fussy
- By Ex on 01-09-16
-
I Was Better Last Night
- A Memoir
- By: Harvey Fierstein
- Narrated by: Harvey Fierstein
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harvey Fierstein’s legendary career has transported him from community theater in Brooklyn, to the lights of Broadway, to the absurd excesses of Hollywood and back. He’s received accolades and awards for acting in and/or writing an incredible string of hit plays, films, and TV shows.
-
-
Loved it
- By Mary Ellen Guadagno on 03-09-22
By: Harvey Fierstein
-
Run Towards the Danger
- Confrontations with a Body of Memory
- By: Sarah Polley
- Narrated by: Sarah Polley
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this extraordinary book, Sarah Polley explores what it is to live in one’s body, in a constant state of becoming, learning, and changing. Each of these six essays captures a piece of Polley’s life as she remembers it, while at the same time examining the fallibility of memory, the mutability of reality in the mind, and the possibility of experiencing the past anew, as the person she is now but was not then. As Polley writes, the past and present are in a “reciprocal pressure dance.”
-
-
Really Just a Book About Her Diffcult Moments
- By Andrew on 03-11-22
By: Sarah Polley
-
Breaking Through
- My Life in Science
- By: Katalin Karikó
- Narrated by: Eva Magyar
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Katalin Karikó has had an unlikely journey. The daughter of a butcher in postwar communist Hungary, Karikó grew up in an adobe home that lacked running water, and her family grew their own vegetables. She saw the wonders of nature all around her and was determined to become a scientist. That determination eventually brought her to the United States, where she arrived as a postdoctoral fellow in 1985 with $1,200 sewn into her toddler’s teddy bear and a dream to remake medicine.
-
-
The heartfelt story of a resilient scientist
- By Anonymous User on 04-01-25
By: Katalin Karikó
-
The Lucky Ones
- A Memoir
- By: Zara Chowdhary
- Narrated by: Zara Chowdhary
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2002, Zara Chowdhary is sixteen years old and living with her family in Ahmedabad, one of India’s fastest-growing cities, when a gruesome train fire claims the lives of sixty Hindu right-wing volunteers and upends the life of five million Muslims. Instead of taking her school exams that week, Zara is put under a three-month siege, with her family and thousands of others fearing for their lives as Hindu neighbors, friends, and members of civil society transform overnight into bloodthirsty mobs, hunting and massacring their fellow citizens.
-
-
Life under Modi
- By C. C. Kissinger on 08-09-24
By: Zara Chowdhary
-
Opposable Thumbs
- How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever
- By: Matt Singer
- Narrated by: Matt Singer
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a cold Saturday afternoon in 1975, two men (who had known each other for eight years before they’d ever exchanged a word) met for lunch in a Chicago pub. Gene Siskel was the film critic for the Chicago Tribune. Roger Ebert had recently won the Pulitzer Prize—the first ever awarded to a film critic—for his work at the Chicago Sun-Times. To say they despised each other was an understatement.
-
-
Good book. But unless you are a standup comedian, or an actor, you shouldn’t read a book you wrote
- By Jerry Thompson on 03-14-24
By: Matt Singer
-
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl
- A Memoir
- By: Carrie Brownstein
- Narrated by: Carrie Brownstein
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the guitarist of the pioneering band Sleater-Kinney, the book Kim Gordon says "everyone has been waiting for" and a New York Times Notable Book of 2015 - a candid, funny, and deeply personal look at making a life - and finding yourself - in music. Before Carrie Brownstein became a music icon, she was a young girl growing up in the Pacific Northwest just as it was becoming the setting for one the most important movements in rock history.
-
-
fussy
- By Ex on 01-09-16
-
I Was Better Last Night
- A Memoir
- By: Harvey Fierstein
- Narrated by: Harvey Fierstein
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harvey Fierstein’s legendary career has transported him from community theater in Brooklyn, to the lights of Broadway, to the absurd excesses of Hollywood and back. He’s received accolades and awards for acting in and/or writing an incredible string of hit plays, films, and TV shows.
-
-
Loved it
- By Mary Ellen Guadagno on 03-09-22
By: Harvey Fierstein
-
A Terribly Serious Adventure
- Philosophy and War at Oxford, 1900-1960
- By: Nikhil Krishnan
- Narrated by: Kieran Hodgson
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
These were among the questions that philosophers wrestled with in mid-twentieth-century Britain, a period shadowed by war and the rise of fascism. In response to these events, thinkers such as Philippa Foot (originator of the famous trolley problem), Isaiah Berlin, Iris Murdoch, Elizabeth Anscombe, Gilbert Ryle, and J. L. Austin aspired to a new level of watchfulness and self-awareness about language as a way of keeping philosophy true to everyday experience.
-
-
Brilliant in every way!
- By Chuck Stark on 07-05-23
By: Nikhil Krishnan
-
It's What I Do
- A Photographer's Life of Love and War
- By: Lynsey Addario
- Narrated by: Lynsey Addario
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
War photographer Lynsey Addario’s memoir It’s What I Do is the story of how the relentless pursuit of truth, in virtually every major theater of war in the twenty-first century, has shaped her life. What she does, with clarity, beauty, and candor, is to document, often in their most extreme moments, the complex lives of others. It’s her work, but it’s much more than that: it’s her singular calling.
-
-
I think I cried four times
- By Ian on 06-29-24
By: Lynsey Addario
-
An Illuminated Life
- Belle da Costa Greene's Journey from Prejudice to Privilege
- By: Heidi Ardizzone
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 22 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would you give up to achieve your dream? When J. P. Morgan hired Belle da Costa Greene in 1905 to organize his rare book and manuscript collection, she had only her personality and a few years of experience to recommend her. Ten years later, she had shaped the famous Pierpont Morgan Library collection and was a proto-celebrity in New York and the art world, renowned for her self-made expertise, her acerbic wit, and her flirtatious relationships. Born to a family of free people of color, Greene changed her name and invented a Portuguese grandmother to enter White society.
-
-
A Remarkable Woman
- By HistoryNerd on 01-25-22
By: Heidi Ardizzone
-
My Voice
- A Memoir
- By: Angie Martinez, J. Cole - foreword
- Narrated by: Angie Martinez
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her current reign at Power 105.1 and for nearly two decades at New York's Hot 97, Angie Martinez has had one of the highest rated radio shows in the country. After working her way up as an intern, she burst on the scene as a young female jock whose on-air "Battle of the Beats" segment broke records and became a platform for emerging artists like a young Jay Z. Angie quickly became known for intimate, high-profile interviews, mediating feuds between artists, and taking on the most controversial issues in hip-hop.
-
-
Excellent read, precise imagery, very impressed
- By Tiesha Hogue on 06-05-17
By: Angie Martinez, and others
-
The Trip to Echo Spring
- On Writers and Drinking
- By: Olivia Laing
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Trip to Echo Spring, Olivia Laing examines the link between creativity and alcohol through the work and lives of six of America's finest writers: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, John Berryman, John Cheever, and Raymond Carver. All six of these men were alcoholics, and the subject of drinking surfaces in some of their finest work, from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof to A Moveable Feast.
-
-
Great Narration!!!!!! Great story about 20 Century make writer who suffer with alcoholism. If you like this topic and want more
- By Pamela Abbey on 04-25-21
By: Olivia Laing
-
Nobody Is Coming to Save You
- A Green Beret's Guide to Getting Big Sh*t Done
- By: Scott Mann
- Narrated by: Scott Mann, Mike Rowe
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In these divisive and distrustful times, the hardest skill and most important commodity in life and business is knowing how to connect deeply with other people. What are the secrets to moving reluctant people to action, in life or in business?
-
-
Excellent Content and Quick Read
- By Chris G on 01-16-25
By: Scott Mann
-
You're on an Airplane
- A Self-Mythologizing Memoir
- By: Parker Posey
- Narrated by: Parker Posey
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Have you ever wondered what it would be like talk to Parker Posey? On an airplane, with Parker as your seat companion, perhaps? Parker’s irreverent, hilarious, and enchanting memoir gives you the incredible opportunity. Full of personal stories, whimsical how-tos, recipes, and beautiful handmade collages created by the author herself, You’re on an Airplane is a delight in every way.
-
-
Sadly So Boring I Couldn't Finish
- By Bohemian on 08-04-18
By: Parker Posey
-
The Distance Between Us
- A Memoir
- By: Reyna Grande
- Narrated by: Yareli Arizmendi
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this inspirational and unflinchingly honest memoir, acclaimed author Reyna Grande describes her childhood torn between the United States and Mexico, and shines a light on the experiences, fears, and hopes of those who choose to make the harrowing journey across the border. Reyna Grande vividly brings to life her tumultuous early years in this “compelling...unvarnished, resonant” (BookPage) story of a childhood spent torn between two parents and two countries.
-
-
opened my eyes to the beauty of our stories
- By Evelyn on 09-18-20
By: Reyna Grande
-
Whatever Next?
- Lessons from an Unexpected Life
- By: Anne Glenconner
- Narrated by: Anne Glenconner
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lady in Waiting brought us royal magic, beguiling insight, and jaw-dropping stories from life inside Anne Glenconner’s privileged circle, which though golden didn't always glitter. As she revealed in her memoir, it has been one of stark contrasts—from growing up in the splendor of Holkham Hall to living in a tent in the jungle of Mustique, from traveling the world with Princess Margaret to coping with her wildly unpredictable husband Lord Glenconner. She has also survived the tragic loss of two of her sons and nursed a third son back from a coma.
-
-
Not What I Expected
- By Laurie on 02-24-23
By: Anne Glenconner
-
Under the Big Black Sun
- A Personal History of L.A. Punk
- By: John Doe, Tom Desavia
- Narrated by: Exene Cervenka, Henry Rollins, full cast
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Under the Big Black Sun explores the nascent Los Angeles punk rock movement and its evolution to hardcore punk as it's never been told before. Authors John Doe and Tom DeSavia have woven together an enthralling story of the legendary West Coast scene from 1977 to 1982 by enlisting the voices of people who were there. The book shares chapter-length tales from the authors along with personal essays from famous (and infamous) players in the scene.
-
-
A love song to the early punk days in LA.
- By Brenda on 07-09-16
By: John Doe, and others
-
In the Heights
- Finding Home
- By: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Jeremy McCarter
- Narrated by: America Ferrera, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2008, In the Heights, a new musical from up-and-coming young artists, electrified Broadway. The show’s vibrant mix of Latin music and hip-hop captured life in Washington Heights, the Latino neighborhood in upper Manhattan. It won four Tony Awards and became an international hit, delighting audiences around the world. For the film version, director Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) brought the story home, filming its spectacular dance numbers on location in Washington Heights.
-
-
As always, stunning!
- By MJ on 06-16-21
By: Lin-Manuel Miranda, and others
-
Roctogenarians
- Late in Life Debuts, Comebacks, and Triumphs
- By: Mo Rocca, Jonathan Greenberg
- Narrated by: Mo Rocca
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eighty has been the new sixty for about twenty years now. In fact, there have always been late-in-life achievers, those who declined to go into decline just because they were eligible for social security. Journalist, humorist, and history buff Mo Rocca and coauthor Jonathan Greenberg introduce us to the people past and present who peaked when they could have been puttering—breaking out as writers, selling out concert halls, attempting to set land-speed records—and in the case of one ninety-year tortoise, becoming a first-time father. (Take that, Al Pacino!)
-
-
Another Home Run
- By Tony on 02-15-25
By: Mo Rocca, and others
What listeners say about Viewfinder
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jennifer j patel
- 10-17-24
“Navigating Two Worlds: A Reflective Journey Through Viewfinder”
Viewfinder by John M. Chu deeply resonated with me. As a filmmaker, husband, father, and Chinese American, Chu captures the complexities of growing up between two worlds—immigrant life at home and “American” culture outside. Though he grew up in the Bay Area and I in a small Arizona town, the shared struggle to balance these identities feels familiar.
Chu’s journey of self-acceptance, especially in a world where few looked like him, is powerful. He also reflects on how his relentless drive for success ultimately left him unfulfilled, showing the double-edged sword of ambition.
For Gen X readers, this book offers a nostalgic look back at simpler times while prompting reflection on where we’re headed. Highly recommend!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 12-08-24
Such a Fantastic Book!
Loved Jon’s life story and as an Asian/Hispanic American, felt like I could relate in many ways. His storytelling about his parent’s background was my absolute favorite part of the book! I also appreciate the message of resilience, grit, and presence. Such important pieces of advice in our day and age.
My only complaint is that sometimes his narrative voice dipped and I had a hard time discerning what he was saying. Other than that, it was fantastic and I highly recommend giving it a listen!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sannah McDonough
- 12-12-24
Entertaining, just like Chu’s movies!
I liked Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights, and was impressed with Wicked, so I was excited to give this a listen! Entertaining and enjoyable. He is blessed to have had great parents and family.
A few minor gripes: 1. “Latinx” is a term that is on its way out, though some Spanish-speakers found it offensive or irritating all along. I’m sure Chu has had personal contact with people who prefer it though. 2. As someone from the outside looking in reading this book, I think the “don’t complain” advice of his parents was actually extremely valuable and counter-cultural in a way that gives someone an advantage if they follow it when they experience set-backs. Seems like that is an attitude that leads to success. I’d just be careful about rejecting that wholesale.
Overall enjoyable listen. Excited to see what he works on in the future, and Hollywood is lucky to have him.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- seligmanor
- 09-13-24
Life lessons for Jon, life lessons for us all.
Entertaining engaging
from beginning to end. Perseverance, resilience, unending examination of self others and world —. Love it.
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
- David Ortiz
- 12-18-24
A biased review of Jon M. Chu’s book
I know Jon so I want to be transparent about the fact that his book somehow exceeded my expectations despite knowing how hard he has worked on everything he has accomplished. I genuinely believe everyone aspiring to create in whatever medium takes the time to extract the invaluable lessons he shares here. And if you’re in NorCal, stop by Chef Chu’s!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 08-14-24
Relatable, Emotional, and Inspiring!
I've never written a book review before, but I wanted to do so for this book. I knew I had to listen to it when I heard you mention it during an interview you did on NPR! As an African and struggling businesswoman, your parents' chapter in your book gave me hope in my entrepreneurial journey. Your parents' chapter and your hero, Steve Jobs, sections kept me emotional, and I sometimes found tears coming down my eyes. Your book means so much on many levels and it leaves me feeling very grateful and inspired for what is to come in my life as a business owner. Thank you for your storytelling. I wholeheartedly relate to your book.
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
- Gosei
- 09-17-24
Excellent story and incredible quality
A must read/listen or any emerging filmmaker. What a story. breaking in with Spielberg at 22yo
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
- Jana Kellam
- 12-22-24
Powerful, thought provoking memoir
I loved this book, especially because I just saw the Wicked movie and adored it! There’s so much here to inspire, to move, to become more understanding… I highly recommend it, particularly if you’re an artist or storyteller of any kind.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Abg
- 08-23-24
The real story of a storyteller
Better than I could have hoped. It takes you from Jon’s start to the present time. I’m excited to read the sequel.
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
- betsy_rw
- 12-31-24
We need more Jon Chu’s in the world!
I loved how his idealism and spirit that shone through on the page! Not my favorite memoir of all time, but this man is my favorite director of all time!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!