Art audiobooks

Shoot Out

By: Peter Guber

Narrated by: Peter Bart

Length: 9 hours 18 minutes

Abridged: No

Hollywood thrives on “shoot-outs”—standoffs, skirmishes, and power struggles that mark every stage of the filmmaking process. Whether it is a director insisting on a final cut, a star demanding a bigger motor home, a producer holding the line on a budget, or a grip with a gripe, it seems that the world of moviemaking is nothing but Sturm und... Read more

The Wonders of Living Simply

By: Toinette Lippe

Narrated by: Michael Toms

Length: 58 minutes

Abridged: No

Lippe, a natural ecologist, believes the whole earth is a cornucopia. "If you acknowledge that there is enough for everybody, then you don't have to hold on to everything in case you might need it, the way most of us do with things we haven't used for twenty years." She's author of Nothing Left Over: A Plain and Simple Life. Read more

Picasso's War

By: Russell Martin

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 7 hours 37 minutes

Abridged: No

Picasso's War sheds light on the conflict that was an ominous prelude to WWII and delivers an unforgettable portrait of a genius whose visionary statement about horror and terrible wounds of war still resonates today. Read more

Beyond Survival: Darwin's Lost Theory of Love

By: David Loye

Narrated by: Michael Toms

Length: 58 minutes

Abridged: No

Systems scientist and evolutionary theorist David Loye argues that Darwin was misunderstood and misinterpreted.  After years of research, Loye discovered two things: less than a dozen people understood what Darwin was writing about; and Darwin spoke far more about love than he did about selfishness and the survival of the fittest. Read more

The Power of Story in Social Change

By: Susan Griffin

Narrated by: Michael Toms

Length: 57 minutes

Abridged: No

Author, poet and social activist Susan Griffin sees that we are in somewhat of a box, and that we need the visionary power of art to help us find our way out. "I think artists can go to a level of vision that can often save us from a situation which seems to have no solution whatsoever." Read more

A Shakespearean Actor Prepares - Abridged

By: Adrian Brine & Michael York

Narrated by: Michael York

Length: 5 hours 55 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Shakespeare knew more about the art of acting and the art of theater than any other playwright— but there is no general consensus about how Shakespeare should be played. There are no rules. While the Bard created superhuman characters and placed them in situations that stretch the imagination to its limits, he also provided his... Read more

Seeing Through Evil

By: Matthew Fox, Ph.D.

Narrated by: Michael Toms

Length: 57 minutes

Abridged: No

Bringing light to the dark side of evil, so that it removes the disguise and the illusion, visionary theologian Mathew Fox provides a new perspective on an ages old subject. He calls for an open dialogue about evil and what it truly means. In an era when human beings are fully capable of destroying the species along with the biosphere, Fox... Read more

A Room of My Own - Abridged

By: Donald Davis

Narrated by: Donald Davis

Length: 58 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Sibling rivalry. Sometimes, a kid just isn't ready for some little squirt to come along and invade his space, his own room. So what if there's an extra bed in the room; isn't that where the stuffed animals are supposed to sleep? How could a couple of otherwise sensible parents just bring a new kid home without even consulting their very own son?... Read more

Profile on Suzanne Farrell

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 6 minutes

Abridged: No

A closer look at a renowned ballerina and artistic legacy, dancer Suzanne Farrell. Read more

The Media: Cutting Through the Illusion

By: Norman Solomon

Narrated by: Michael Toms

Length: 58 minutes

Abridged: No

Solomon, nationally syndicated columnist on media and politics and founder of the Institute for Public Accuracy, speaks eloquently about the seductive power of the media and how it shapes our understanding of the world, and our response to critical world events. Read more

Dancing With Yourself

By: Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Narrated by: Michael Toms

Length: 57 minutes

Abridged: No

After writing the best-selling book, The Invitation, Dreamer discovered that her intention to grow in her capacity to love well was not manifesting, evident in circumstances such as illness and dissolving relationships.  She wanted to know, really know, that she was enough just as she was. Read more

The Infinite Field Of Possibilities: Viewing Change Through A Kaleidoscope

By: Angeles Arrien, Ph.D.

Narrated by: Michael Toms

Length: 58 minutes

Abridged: No

Eastern philosophy tells us that the only constant in life is change. We move into our day feeling secure about the future, then suddenly we are faced with a catastrophe. A new world is born and our lives are forever altered. In these times of transition what do we do? How do we move beyond fear and anger to live heartfully in the field of... Read more

Andy Warhol

By: Wayne Koestenbaum

Narrated by: Arthur Addison

Length: 6 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

In his bravura account of Warhol's life and work, scholar and culture critic Wayne Koestenbaum gets past the contradictions and reveals the man behind the blond wig and dark glasses. Nimbly weaving brilliant and witty analysis into an absorbing narrative, Koestenbaum makes a convincing case for Warhol as a serious artist, one whose importance... Read more

Marlon Brando

By: Patricia Bosworth

Narrated by: Edward Holland

Length: 6 hours 19 minutes

Abridged: No

Following his development from moody Oklahoma teenager to the method-trained star to the eccentric recluse of his later years, Patricia Bosworth offers a penetrating look at Marlon Brando’s evolving persona: the volcanic Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, the sensitive rebel in The Wild Ones, the iconic Don Corleone in The Godfather.... Read more

The Power of Myth

By: Joseph Campbell & Bill Moyers

Length: 5 hours 42 minutes

Abridged: No

The complete soundtrack from the phenomenally popular PBS series whose message about myth, ritual, and spiritual potentialities exhilarated millions of people.

Contents:
Program 1: The Hero's Adventure
Program 2: The Message of the Myth
Program 3: The First Storytellers
Program 4: Sacrifice and Bliss
Program 5: Love and the Goddess
Program 6: Masks... Read more

The Monticello Dialogues, Part I: Democratic Design

By: William McDonough

Narrated by: Michael Toms

Length: 57 minutes

Abridged: No

McDonough shares how his early life growing up in Hong Kong affected his worldview, and how his work has been influenced by innovative designs of Thomas Jefferson. He describes his work with chemist Michael Braungart in designing from the point of view of nature. Read more

Let Me Entertain You

By: David Brown

Narrated by: David Brown

Length: 11 hours 51 minutes

Abridged: No

Seldom has the world seen a man with the grace, style, intellect, and success of journalist, author, publisher, Broadway and film producer, and husband to long-time Cosmopolitan head Helen Gurley Brown, David Brown. Throughout his remarkable life, he was a friend, acquaintance, and confidant of the world's most powerful, most famous, and most... Read more

Mark Morris - Extended Interview

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 50 minutes

Abridged: No

In this 2001 interview, choreographer and dancer Mark Morris talks to Jeffrey Broan about his career. Read more

The Vagina Monologues

By: Eve Ensler

Narrated by: Eve Ensler

Length: 1 hour 44 minutes

Abridged: No

A landmark in women’s empowerment—as relevant as ever after a year marked by unprecedented political protest—that honors female sexuality in all its complexity.

"I was worried about vaginas. I was worried about what we think about vaginas, and even more worried that we don't think about them. . . . So I decided to talk to women about their... Read more

2.5 Minute Ride

By: Lisa Kron

Narrated by: Lisa Kron

Length: 1 hour 18 minutes

Abridged: No

In 2.5 Minute Ride--winner of the Obie Award, The New York Press Award, and the L.A. Dramalogue Award— Lisa Kron invites her audience on a roller coaster ride through the Kron family album. Kron's performance switches back and forth between a journey to Auschwitz with her septuagenarian father, a Holocaust survivor; her Michigan... Read more

My Life in Three Acts - Abridged

By: Helen Hayes

Narrated by: Helen Hayes

Length: TBA

Abridged: Yes

In this extremely candid and honest account, Helen Hayes, acclaimed "First Lady of the American Theater", looks back on her life and career, and you are invited to a private listening session. So sit back, relax, and listen to behind-the-scenes portraits and anecdotes of personalities such as Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, John F. Kennedy, Al... Read more

Thalberg - Abridged

By: Bob Thomas

Narrated by: John Landis

Length: 6 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: Yes

More than 85 years after his untimely death at just age 37, Irving Thalberg (1899-1936) remains a legendary Hollywood figure. Called the “Boy Wonder of Hollywood,” Thalberg quickly climbed the ranks at MGM studios to became one of the most powerful and high-profile producers of the time, elevating filmmaking to an art form. In this definitive... Read more

Heart Rhythm

By: Reinhard Flatischler & Camelia Flatischler

Narrated by: Michael Toms

Length: 57 minutes

Abridged: No

Beginning his musical journey at the early age of four, Reinhard Flatischler went on to become an international performer by the age of 15.  Studying under shamans and masters from around the world eventually led him to an adaptation of his own ideas and ultimately to the creation of his own method. Read more

Leonardo Da Vinci

By: Sherwin Nuland

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 4 hours 32 minutes

Abridged: No

In Leonardo Da Vinci, Sherwin Nuland completes his 20-year quest to understand an unlettered man who was a painter, architect, engineer, philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. What was it that propelled Leonardo's insatiable curiosity? Nuland finds clues in his subject's art, relationships, and scientific studies. He detects the siren... Read more