We Can Be Heroes
A Survivor's Story
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 $20.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Paul Burston
-
By:
-
Paul Burston
About this listen
"This memoir is brutally honest… Wonderful!”–Russell T. Davies
Activist. Journalist. Survivor. One man’s journey from prejudice to Pride.
Paul Burston wasn’t always the iconic voice of LGBTQ+ London that he is today. Paul came out in the mid-1980s, when ‘gay’ still felt like a dirty word, especially in the small Welsh town where he grew up. He moved to London hoping for a happier life, only to watch in horror as his new-found community was decimated by AIDS. But even in the depths of his grief, Paul vowed never to stop fighting back on behalf of his young friends whose lives were cut tragically short.
It’s a promise he’s kept to this day. As an activist he stormed the House of Commons during the debate over the age of consent. As a journalist he spoke up for the rights of the community at a time of tabloid homophobia and legal inequality. As a novelist he founded the groundbreaking Polari Prize.
But his lifestyle hid a dark secret, and Paul’s demons—shame, trauma, grief—stalked him on every corner. In an attempt to silence them, he began to self-medicate.
From almost drowning at eighteen to a near-fatal overdose at thirty-eight, this is Paul’s story of what happened in the twenty years between, and how he carved out a life that his teenage self could scarcely have imagined. Emotional but often witty, We Can Be Heroes is an illuminating memoir of the eighties, nineties and noughties from a gay man who only just survived them.
©2023 Paul Burston (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
A Place for Us
- A Memoir
- By: Brandon J. Wolf
- Narrated by: Brandon J. Wolf
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Growing up in rural Oregon, Brandon Wolf grappled with the devastating loss of his supportive mother and with the embedded racism and homophobia of a community that made him feel like an unwelcome stranger. After the lack of connection and role models led him down a spiral of risky behavior, Wolf escaped to survive. In Orlando, he found what he’d been searching for: belonging—in a community that was a safe space with people he’d come to call his chosen family.
-
-
Unflinchingly honest; Beautifully read.
- By Amazon Customer on 07-07-23
By: Brandon J. Wolf
-
In the Black
- Changing the Dominant Narrative in the Commercial Real Estate Industry
- By: T. Dallas Smith
- Narrated by: Aaron Goodson
- Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With In the Black, T. Dallas Smith identifies the centrality of honest and open relationships to success within the world of high-dollar commercial real estate deals. His advice to “build relationships before you need them” is complemented by personal stories highlighting the importance of identifying one’s advocates.
-
-
Inspirational
- By Rashana Greene on 03-31-24
By: T. Dallas Smith
-
Witness to a Prosecution
- The Myth of Michael Milken
- By: Richard Sandler
- Narrated by: Richard Sandler
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1986, the SEC and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York began an investigation into Michael Milken, Drexel Burnham Lambert, and its High Yield and Convertible Bond Department, a department Michael created and was head of. Michael was the most successful and innovative financier of his time. Drexel, an upstart investment bank was also the most successful securities firm on Wall Street, thanks to Michael.
-
-
Glad to see the record set straight.
- By Opinionman on 02-06-24
By: Richard Sandler
-
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
-
Oh Miriam!
- Stories from an Extraordinary Life
- By: Miriam Margolyes
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From being escorted off the Today programme (for saying what we were all thinking) to declaring her love to Vanessa Redgrave; from Tales of the Unexpected to Graham Norton's sofa, she is our most loved and most outspoken national treasure. Oh Miriam! takes you inside both her head and her heart. Buckle up for the most irrepressible, hilarious and moving listen of 2023.
-
-
Borrow rather than Buy
- By OaklandBookworm on 11-10-23
By: Miriam Margolyes
-
Riding the Elephant
- A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations
- By: Craig Ferguson
- Narrated by: Craig Ferguson
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Craig Ferguson has defied the odds his entire life. He has failed when he should have succeeded and succeeded when he should have failed. The fact that he is neither dead nor in a locked facility (at the time of printing) is something of a miracle in itself. In Craig’s candid and revealing memoir, listeners will get a look into the mind and recollections of the unique and twisted Scottish American who became a national hero for pioneering the world’s first TV robot skeleton sidekick and reviving two dudes in a horse suit dancing as a form of entertainment.
-
-
Other drivers think I'm nuts...
- By LA Rider on 05-15-19
By: Craig Ferguson
-
A Place for Us
- A Memoir
- By: Brandon J. Wolf
- Narrated by: Brandon J. Wolf
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Growing up in rural Oregon, Brandon Wolf grappled with the devastating loss of his supportive mother and with the embedded racism and homophobia of a community that made him feel like an unwelcome stranger. After the lack of connection and role models led him down a spiral of risky behavior, Wolf escaped to survive. In Orlando, he found what he’d been searching for: belonging—in a community that was a safe space with people he’d come to call his chosen family.
-
-
Unflinchingly honest; Beautifully read.
- By Amazon Customer on 07-07-23
By: Brandon J. Wolf
-
In the Black
- Changing the Dominant Narrative in the Commercial Real Estate Industry
- By: T. Dallas Smith
- Narrated by: Aaron Goodson
- Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With In the Black, T. Dallas Smith identifies the centrality of honest and open relationships to success within the world of high-dollar commercial real estate deals. His advice to “build relationships before you need them” is complemented by personal stories highlighting the importance of identifying one’s advocates.
-
-
Inspirational
- By Rashana Greene on 03-31-24
By: T. Dallas Smith
-
Witness to a Prosecution
- The Myth of Michael Milken
- By: Richard Sandler
- Narrated by: Richard Sandler
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1986, the SEC and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York began an investigation into Michael Milken, Drexel Burnham Lambert, and its High Yield and Convertible Bond Department, a department Michael created and was head of. Michael was the most successful and innovative financier of his time. Drexel, an upstart investment bank was also the most successful securities firm on Wall Street, thanks to Michael.
-
-
Glad to see the record set straight.
- By Opinionman on 02-06-24
By: Richard Sandler
-
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
-
Oh Miriam!
- Stories from an Extraordinary Life
- By: Miriam Margolyes
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From being escorted off the Today programme (for saying what we were all thinking) to declaring her love to Vanessa Redgrave; from Tales of the Unexpected to Graham Norton's sofa, she is our most loved and most outspoken national treasure. Oh Miriam! takes you inside both her head and her heart. Buckle up for the most irrepressible, hilarious and moving listen of 2023.
-
-
Borrow rather than Buy
- By OaklandBookworm on 11-10-23
By: Miriam Margolyes
-
Riding the Elephant
- A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations, and Observations
- By: Craig Ferguson
- Narrated by: Craig Ferguson
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Craig Ferguson has defied the odds his entire life. He has failed when he should have succeeded and succeeded when he should have failed. The fact that he is neither dead nor in a locked facility (at the time of printing) is something of a miracle in itself. In Craig’s candid and revealing memoir, listeners will get a look into the mind and recollections of the unique and twisted Scottish American who became a national hero for pioneering the world’s first TV robot skeleton sidekick and reviving two dudes in a horse suit dancing as a form of entertainment.
-
-
Other drivers think I'm nuts...
- By LA Rider on 05-15-19
By: Craig Ferguson
-
The Success Paradox
- How to Surrender & Win in Business and in Life
- By: Gary C. Cooper
- Narrated by: Adam Gold
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Success Paradox is the improbable story of a life and business transformed, told in a warmly authentic style that says: “I hit rock bottom, I surrendered, I began doing the opposite of what I’d been doing before, miracles happened, and here’s what you can learn from my journey.” With riveting personal details that illuminate his discoveries, Gary details how he defied the odds—not just to survive but to thrive—by implementing a series of paradoxical strategies, fundamentally opposite to anything he’d ever done before.
-
-
Recursive storytelling filled with quotes of others
- By Macervoni on 11-07-24
By: Gary C. Cooper
-
This Much Is True
- By: Miriam Margolyes
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning actor, creator of a myriad of memorable characters from Lady Whiteadder to Professor Sprout, Miriam Margolyes is a national treasure. Now, at last, at the age of 80, she has finally decided to tell her extraordinary life story. And it's far richer and stranger than any part she's played.
-
-
Simply Brilliant
- By Stuart Huddart on 09-21-21
By: Miriam Margolyes
-
Baggage
- Tales from a Fully Packed Life
- By: Alan Cumming
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is absolutely no logical reason why I am here. The life trajectory my nationality and class and circumstances portended for me was not even remotely close to the one I now navigate. But logic is a science and living is an art. The release I felt in writing my first memoir, Not My Father’s Son, was matched only by how my speaking out empowered so many to engage with their own trauma. I was reminded of the power of my words and the absolute duty of authenticity.
-
-
Entertaining but a little Helter-Skelter
- By Deborah N on 11-16-21
By: Alan Cumming
-
Carrie Fisher
- A Life on the Edge
- By: Sheila Weller
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A remarkably candid biography of the remarkably candid - and brilliant - Carrie Fisher. Sourced by friends, colleagues, and witnesses to all stages of Fisher’s life, Carrie Fisher: A Life on the Edge is an empathic and even-handed portrayal of a woman who - as Princess Leia, but mostly as herself - was a feminist heroine, one who died at a time when we need her blazing, healing honesty more than ever.
-
-
Need a different narrator or director?
- By Brad on 12-24-19
By: Sheila Weller
-
Like a Rolling Stone
- A Memoir
- By: Jann S. Wenner
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris, Jann S. Wenner
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rolling Stone founder, co-editor, and publisher Jann Wenner's deeply personal memoir vividly describes and brings you inside the music, the politics, and the lifestyle of a generation, an epoch of cultural change that swept America and beyond. The age of rock and roll in an era of consequence, what will be considered one of the great watersheds in modern history. Wenner writes with the clarity of a journalist and an essayist. He takes us into the life and work of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Bono, and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few.
-
-
Name-dropping on steroids
- By Tim on 09-19-22
By: Jann S. Wenner
-
Watching Neighbours Twice a Day...
- How ’90s TV (Almost) Prepared Me for Life
- By: Josh Widdicombe
- Narrated by: James Acaster, Josh Widdicombe
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his first memoir, Josh Widdicombe tells the story of a strange rural childhood, the kind of childhood he only realised was weird when he left home and started telling people about it. From only having four people in his year at school, to living in a family home where they didn't just not bother to lock the front door, they didn't even have a key. Using a different television show of the time as its starting point for each chapter, Watching Neighbours Twice a Day... is part-childhood memoir, part-comic history of '90s television and culture.
-
-
Loved learning about the shows in the UK
- By ASHLEY on 09-25-21
By: Josh Widdicombe
-
150 Glimpses of the Beatles
- By: Craig Brown
- Narrated by: Craig Brown, Kate Robbins, Mark McGann
- Length: 20 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A distinctive portrait of the fab four by one of the sharpest and wittiest writers of our time.
-
-
boring
- By E. Riordan on 02-27-21
By: Craig Brown
-
Profit with Presence
- The Twelve Pillars of Mindful Leadership
- By: Dr. Eric J. Holsapple
- Narrated by: Dr. Eric J. Holsapple
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mindfulness and Presence can transform business culture, improving focus and communication while reducing distractions and stress. Holsapple learned this lesson years ago, after achieving “success” as defined by society but still feeling unhappy and stressed. In Profit with Presence, he shares the lessons he learned and his twelve pillars for personal and business success, which are easy to understand and implement through practice exercises.
-
-
Great book, important topic
- By ThunderEagle on 03-17-23
-
Ramble Book
- Musings on Childhood, Friendship, Family and 80s Pop Culture
- By: Adam Buxton
- Narrated by: Adam Buxton
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ramble Book is about parenthood, boarding-school trauma, arguing with your partner, bad parties, confrontations on trains, friendship, wanting to fit in, growing up in the '80s, dead dads, teenage sexual anxiety, failed artistic endeavours, being a David Bowie fan and how everything you read, watch and listen to as a child forms a part of the adult you become. It’s also an audiobook about the joys of going off topic and letting your mind wander. And it’s about a short, hairy, frequently confused man called Adam Buxton.
-
-
Probably the best book of the year so far.
- By James on 07-24-20
By: Adam Buxton
-
Meghan Misunderstood
- By: Sean Smith
- Narrated by: Jessica Hayles
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meghan was 11 when she first advocated for women’s rights; a teenager when she worked in a soup kitchen feeding the homeless; a popular actress when she campaigned for clean water in Africa and passionately championed gender equality in a speech to a United Nations Women’s Conference. Even before she met Prince Harry, hers was an extraordinarily accomplished life. Meghan’s wedding to Harry was a joyful occasion, marking happiness at last for the Queen’s grandson who had captured our hearts 20 years earlier when he bravely walked behind his mother Diana’s coffin.
-
-
A Matter of Fact Biography
- By Victoria Taveras on 11-29-20
By: Sean Smith
-
Beyond the Walls
- MegaTrends, Movements, and Market Disruptors Transforming American Healthcare
- By: Zeev Neuwirth
- Narrated by: Zeev E. Neuwirth MD
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The American health-care system is failing us. It is a frustratingly complex, opaque, and unaffordable system that results in suboptimal care and a deterioration of the welfare of the majority of American families. The experience of the past few decades and the recent ravaging pandemic has shown us that doing more of the same is not going to deliver us from this dilemma. But there is hope. There is a way to create a more accessible, consumer-friendly, safer, and affordable system of care for all of us.
-
-
Must Read for Every Single Person in this country
- By mn on 10-01-23
By: Zeev Neuwirth
-
Life as a Unicorn
- A Journey from Shame to Pride and Everything in Between
- By: Amrou Al-Kadhi
- Narrated by: Amrou Al-Kadhi
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amrou knew they were gay when, aged 10, they first laid eyes on Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. It was love at first sight. Amrou’s parents weren’t so happy.... From that moment on, Amrou began searching in all the wrong places for ways to make their divided self whole again. Life as a Unicorn is a hilarious yet devastating story of a search for belonging, following the painful and surprising process of transforming from a god-fearing Muslim boy to a queer drag queen, strutting the stage in seven-inch heels and saying the things nobody else dares to....
-
-
Fabulous story, kept me hooked!
- By Michelle M on 07-17-20
By: Amrou Al-Kadhi
Critic reviews
“Journalist Paul Burston narrates his memoir about growing up gay in South Wales, his transformation into an AIDS activist and author in London, and the establishment of Polari salon in 2007 and the first Polari Prize in 2011.… His narration is clear and understated. He lets the drama of events speak for themselves. The result is an audiobook that is an intimate conversation—a story of powerful emotions told simply.”—AudioFile Magazine
“A compelling and hugely enjoyable memoir about a fearless life lived to the full.”—Bernardine Evaristo, author of the Booker Prize winning Girl, Woman, Other
“This memoir is brutally honest…Wonderful!”—Russell T. Davies
Related to this topic
-
Stonewall
- The Definitive Story of the LGBT Rights Uprising that Changed America
- By: Martin Duberman
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village, was raided by police. But instead of responding with the typical compliance the NYPD expected, patrons and a growing crowd decided to fight back. The five days of rioting that ensued changed forever the face of gay and lesbian life. In Stonewall, renowned historian and activist Martin Duberman tells the full story of this pivotal moment in history.
-
-
Not the Stonewall book I was looking for
- By T. Mommy on 10-05-24
By: Martin Duberman
-
High Sobriety
- My Year Without Booze
- By: Jill Stark
- Narrated by: Vannessa Coffey
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I'm the binge-drinking health reporter. During the week, I write about Australia's booze-soaked culture. At the weekends, I write myself off. Born and raised in Scotland, the home of whisky, Jill Stark had booze in the blood. Alcohol had dominated her social life ever since she had her first sip of lager, at 13. She thought nothing could curb her love of big nights. Then came the hangover that changed everything. In the shadow of her 35th year, Jill made a decision: she would give up alcohol.
-
-
Great Book, for the right audience
- By Karen K on 01-15-15
By: Jill Stark
-
Airhead
- The Imperfect Art of Making News
- By: Emily Maitlis
- Narrated by: Emily Maitlis
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As anchor for the BBC's key political news programme, Newsnight, Emily Maitlis has interviewed some of the most powerful and controversial figures on the political scene. She plans each interview meticulously, knowing what she wants to ask and where she wants it to go, but as one of the most experienced journalists in her field she knows that no interview will ever go to plan....
-
-
Amazing. Absolutely amazing
- By Amazon Customer on 08-29-23
By: Emily Maitlis
-
Somebody to Love
- The Life, Death and Legacy of Freddie Mercury
- By: Matt Richards, Mark Langthorne
- Narrated by: Tim Bruce
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Freddie Mercury died in 1991, aged just 45, the world was rocked by the vibrant and flamboyant star's tragic secret that he had been battling AIDS. That Mercury had even been diagnosed came as a shock to his millions of fans, with his announcement coming less than 24 hours before his death. In Somebody to Love, biographers Mark Langthorne and Matt Richards skilfully weave Freddie Mercury's incredible pursuit of musical greatness with Queen, his upbringing and his endless search for love with the story of a terrible disease.
-
-
Stunning dual biography of Freddie and AIDS
- By tru britty on 07-19-18
By: Matt Richards, and others
-
Philip Roth
- The Biography
- By: Blake Bailey
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 31 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"I don't want you to rehabilitate me," Philip Roth said to his only authorized biographer, Blake Bailey. "Just make me interesting." Granted complete independence and access, Bailey spent almost 10 years poring over Roth's personal archive, interviewing his friends, lovers, and colleagues, and listening to Roth's own breathtakingly candid confessions. Tracing Roth's path from realism to farce to metafiction to the tragic masterpieces of the American Trilogy, Bailey explores Roth's engagement with nearly every aspect of postwar American culture.
-
-
moved
- By Michael on 08-18-21
By: Blake Bailey
-
John Lennon
- The Life
- By: Philip Norman
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Philip Norman turns his formidable talent to the Beatle for whom belonging to the world's most beloved pop group was never enough. Drawing on previously untapped sources, and with unprecedented access to all the major characters, here is the definitive portrait of John Lennon. This biography takes a fresh and penetrating look at Lennon's much-chronicled life, including the songs that have turned him, posthumously, into almost a secular saint.
-
-
Really Bad Abridgement Job (slash job)
- By Let's Be Reasonable on 12-04-08
By: Philip Norman
-
Stonewall
- The Definitive Story of the LGBT Rights Uprising that Changed America
- By: Martin Duberman
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village, was raided by police. But instead of responding with the typical compliance the NYPD expected, patrons and a growing crowd decided to fight back. The five days of rioting that ensued changed forever the face of gay and lesbian life. In Stonewall, renowned historian and activist Martin Duberman tells the full story of this pivotal moment in history.
-
-
Not the Stonewall book I was looking for
- By T. Mommy on 10-05-24
By: Martin Duberman
-
High Sobriety
- My Year Without Booze
- By: Jill Stark
- Narrated by: Vannessa Coffey
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I'm the binge-drinking health reporter. During the week, I write about Australia's booze-soaked culture. At the weekends, I write myself off. Born and raised in Scotland, the home of whisky, Jill Stark had booze in the blood. Alcohol had dominated her social life ever since she had her first sip of lager, at 13. She thought nothing could curb her love of big nights. Then came the hangover that changed everything. In the shadow of her 35th year, Jill made a decision: she would give up alcohol.
-
-
Great Book, for the right audience
- By Karen K on 01-15-15
By: Jill Stark
-
Airhead
- The Imperfect Art of Making News
- By: Emily Maitlis
- Narrated by: Emily Maitlis
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As anchor for the BBC's key political news programme, Newsnight, Emily Maitlis has interviewed some of the most powerful and controversial figures on the political scene. She plans each interview meticulously, knowing what she wants to ask and where she wants it to go, but as one of the most experienced journalists in her field she knows that no interview will ever go to plan....
-
-
Amazing. Absolutely amazing
- By Amazon Customer on 08-29-23
By: Emily Maitlis
-
Somebody to Love
- The Life, Death and Legacy of Freddie Mercury
- By: Matt Richards, Mark Langthorne
- Narrated by: Tim Bruce
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Freddie Mercury died in 1991, aged just 45, the world was rocked by the vibrant and flamboyant star's tragic secret that he had been battling AIDS. That Mercury had even been diagnosed came as a shock to his millions of fans, with his announcement coming less than 24 hours before his death. In Somebody to Love, biographers Mark Langthorne and Matt Richards skilfully weave Freddie Mercury's incredible pursuit of musical greatness with Queen, his upbringing and his endless search for love with the story of a terrible disease.
-
-
Stunning dual biography of Freddie and AIDS
- By tru britty on 07-19-18
By: Matt Richards, and others
-
Philip Roth
- The Biography
- By: Blake Bailey
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 31 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"I don't want you to rehabilitate me," Philip Roth said to his only authorized biographer, Blake Bailey. "Just make me interesting." Granted complete independence and access, Bailey spent almost 10 years poring over Roth's personal archive, interviewing his friends, lovers, and colleagues, and listening to Roth's own breathtakingly candid confessions. Tracing Roth's path from realism to farce to metafiction to the tragic masterpieces of the American Trilogy, Bailey explores Roth's engagement with nearly every aspect of postwar American culture.
-
-
moved
- By Michael on 08-18-21
By: Blake Bailey
-
John Lennon
- The Life
- By: Philip Norman
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Philip Norman turns his formidable talent to the Beatle for whom belonging to the world's most beloved pop group was never enough. Drawing on previously untapped sources, and with unprecedented access to all the major characters, here is the definitive portrait of John Lennon. This biography takes a fresh and penetrating look at Lennon's much-chronicled life, including the songs that have turned him, posthumously, into almost a secular saint.
-
-
Really Bad Abridgement Job (slash job)
- By Let's Be Reasonable on 12-04-08
By: Philip Norman
-
Elton John
- The Biography
- By: David Buckley
- Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
- Length: 16 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elton John is as much loved for his outrageous personality and witty outspokenness as for his music. Such shamelessness and sheer silliness rivals anything uttered by punk rockers, yet it is so typically Elton: honest and intemperate. Tragedy and heartbreak have played a large part in his life. Behind the parties, the hedonism, the lavish stage costumes, and silly glasses lies a more somber story. Between disputes with managers, legal wranglings, public breakups, and divorce, John has been faced with serious health problems and drug addictions.
-
-
Trite!
- By michael mckone on 08-04-22
By: David Buckley
-
Girl Gurl Grrrl
- On Womanhood and Belonging in the Age of Black Girl Magic
- By: Kenya Hunt
- Narrated by: Kenya Hunt, Ebele Okobi, Jessica Horn, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Black women have never been more visible or more publicly celebrated. But for every milestone, every magazine cover, every new face elected to public office, the reality of everyday life for black women remains a complex, conflicted, contradiction-laden experience. An American journalist who has been living in London for a decade, Kenya Hunt has made a career of distilling moments, movements, and cultural moods into words. Her work takes the difficult and the indefinable and makes it accessible; it is razor sharp cultural observation threaded through evocative and relatable stories.
-
-
Inspired
- By Amazon Customer on 01-29-21
By: Kenya Hunt
-
City Boy
- My Life in New York During the 1960s and '70s
- By: Edmund White
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the New York of the 1970s, in the wake of Stonewall and in the midst of economic collapse, you might find the likes of Jasper Johns and William Burroughs at the next cocktail party, and you were as likely to be caught arguing Marx at the New York City Ballet as cruising for sex in the warehouses and parked trucks along the Hudson. This is the New York that Edmund White portrays in City Boy: a place of enormous intrigue and artistic tumult.
-
-
Pretense upon pretense.
- By Shalin Desai on 06-01-15
By: Edmund White
-
I Love the Bones of You
- By: Christopher Eccleston
- Narrated by: Christopher Eccleston
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Be it as Nicky Hutchinson in Our Friends In The North, Maurice in The A Word, or his reinvention of Doctor Who, one man, in life and death, has accompanied Christopher Eccleston every step of the way – his father Ronnie. In I Love The Bones Of You, Eccleston unveils a vivid portrait of a relationship that has shaped his entire career trajectory, mirroring and defining his own highs and lows, from stage and screen triumph to breakdown, anorexia, self-doubt, and a deep belief in the basic principles of access and equality denied to generations.
-
-
A kinder view of a loved one
- By Robin Casey on 11-03-19
-
Down the Highway
- The Life of Bob Dylan
- By: Howard Sounes
- Narrated by: Peter Markinker
- Length: 20 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Down the Highway is an essential biography for Bob Dylan fans and all music enthusiasts, delivering the full, fascinating story of the life and work of this great artist. Author Howard Sounes interviewed more than 250 key people in Dylan’s circle, and gained access to previously unseen documents, to create a fresh and compelling book that takes the reader on a journey from Dylan’s childhood in a Minnesota mining town, through his rise to fame in the 1960s, to his current status as the senior figure in popular music.
-
-
I'm a little late to the party
- By BrassHat on 06-05-17
By: Howard Sounes
-
Being John Lennon
- A Restless Life
- By: Ray Connolly
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What was it like to be John Lennon? What was it like to be the castoff child, the clown at school, the middle-class suburban boy who pretended to be a working-class hero? How did it feel to have one of the most recognizable singing voices in the world but to dislike it so much he always wanted to disguise it? Being John Lennon is not about the whitewashed Prince of Peace of “Imagine” legend - because that was only a small part of him. The John Lennon depicted in this book is a much more kaleidoscopic figure, sometimes almost a collision of different characters.
-
-
Stars taken off for inclusion of MDC’s story
- By rob on 12-09-22
By: Ray Connolly
-
Inside Out
- A Memoir
- By: Demi Moore
- Narrated by: Demi Moore
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades, Demi Moore has been synonymous with celebrity. From iconic film roles to high-profile relationships, Moore has never been far from the spotlight - or the headlines. Even as Demi was becoming the highest paid actress in Hollywood, however, she was always outrunning her past. Throughout her rise to fame and during some of the most pivotal moments of her life, Demi battled addiction, body image issues, and childhood trauma that would follow her for years - all while juggling a skyrocketing career and at times negative public perception.
-
-
I loved this Memoir
- By mrsbee19 on 09-25-19
By: Demi Moore
-
The Baddest Bitch in the Room
- (Explicit Version)
- By: Sophia Chang
- Narrated by: Sophia Chang
- Length: 8 hrs
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sophia Chang is a badass of the music industry. As the daughter of Korean immigrants in predominantly white suburban Vancouver, she grew up shunning the “model minority” myth. Armed with a fierce sense of independence, she moved to New York City and infiltrated the world of hip-hop, yet remained mostly in the shadows of the artists she supported. With her debut memoir, Sophia Chang is finally ready to grab the mic for herself.
-
-
Something in the music spoke to me...
- By Tina G. on 09-30-19
By: Sophia Chang
-
Get Happy
- The Life of Judy Garland
- By: Gerald Clarke
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
She lived at full throttle on stage, screen, and in real life, with highs that made history and lows that finally brought down the curtain at age 47. Judy Garland died over 30 years ago, but no biography has so completely captured her spirit - and demons - until now. From her tumultuous early years as a child performer to her tragic last days, Gerald Clarke reveals the authentic Judy in a biography rich in new detail and unprecedented revelations.
-
-
A good book, but...
- By Donna Deal on 08-27-21
By: Gerald Clarke
-
David Mitchell: Back Story
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: David Mitchell
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Mitchell, who you may know for his inappropriate anger on every TV panel show except Never Mind the Buzzcocks, his look of permanent discomfort on C4 sex comedy Peep Show, his online commenter-baiting in The Observer or just for wearing a stick-on moustache in That Mitchell and Webb Look, has written a book about his life.
-
-
One of the Funniest, Clever Brits around
- By Delia on 08-30-13
By: David Mitchell
-
The Stonewall Reader
- By: New York Public Library, Edmund White
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
June 28, 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, which is considered the most significant event in the gay liberation movement, and the catalyst for the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the United States. Drawing from the New York Public Library's archives, The Stonewall Reader is a collection of first accounts, diaries, periodic literature, and articles from LGBTQ magazines and newspapers that documented both the years leading up to and the years following the riots.
-
-
A good snapshot of LGBT history
- By Randy A. Wood on 09-28-19
By: New York Public Library, and others
-
She Made Me Laugh
- My Friend Nora Ephron
- By: Richard Cohen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning journalist Richard Cohen, wrote this about his "third-person memoir": "I call this book a third-person memoir. It is about my closest friend, Nora Ephron, and the lives we lived together and how her life got to be bigger until, finally, she wrote her last work, the play, Lucky Guy, about a newspaper columnist dying of cancer while she herself was dying of cancer. I have interviewed many of her other friends - Mike Nichols, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Arianna Huffington.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Leigh Lerro on 10-27-17
By: Richard Cohen