Biography & Memoir audiobooks

I Am Jackie Chan - Abridged

By: Jackie Chan & Jeff Yang

Narrated by: Daxing Zhang

Length: 3 hours 29 minutes

Abridged: Yes

As one of the biggest stars in the world, Jackie Chan has wowed audiences with death-defying stunts for decades. But who really is this boyishly handsome, lightning-fast Charlie Chaplin of martial arts moviemaking? Jackie Chan has never told his own story in his own words. In I Am Jackie Chan, he tells the fascinating, harrowing, ultimately... Read more

Our Lady of the Freedoms - Abridged

By: Corwin Morman

Narrated by: Charles Kuralt

Length: 57 minutes

Abridged: Yes

A great American voice narrates a poignant tribute to our most outstanding monument. One of Charles Kuralt's last projects, Our Lady of the Freedoms is a full-scale production of writer-director Norman Corwin's account of how the Statue of Liberty came to New York harbor.
Charles Kuralt's brilliant narration accompanies dramatizations of the... Read more

Warped Factors - Abridged

By: Walter Koenig

Narrated by: Walter Koenig

Length: 5 hours 20 minutes

Abridged: Yes

This is actor Walter Koenig's story— from growing up as the neurotic child of Russian immigrants in 1940s Manhattan through his rise to fame on Star Trek as Pavel Chekov, Russian navigator of the U.S.S. Enterprise. With wry wit, striking candor, and a true gift for storytelling, Koenig takes us on a sometimes bumpy but often... Read more

About This Life - Abridged

By: Barry Lopez

Narrated by: Barry Lopez

Length: 4 hours 57 minutes

Abridged: Yes

National Book Award winner Barry Lopez captivated the world with his bestselling books Arctic Dreams and Of Wolves and Men. Now, in this memoir, Lopez takes the listener on a literal and figurative journey through essays that provide great wisdom and insights into our times. Lopez leads listeners from Japan's beautiful Hokkaido Island to the... Read more

The Cowboy Detective - Abridged

By: Charles Siringo

Narrated by: Michael Martin Murphey

Length: 2 hours 47 minutes

Abridged: Yes

A fascinating, true-life memoir of an undercover agent in the wild, wild west of the late 1800s!After years of cowboying, Charles A. Siringo settled down in Caldwell, Kansas to run a store— until an acquaintance told him that he was "cut out" for detective work. Thereupon, Siringo joined the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, where... Read more

Angela's Ashes - Abridged

By: Frank McCourt

Narrated by: Frank McCourt

Length: 4 hours 33 minutes

Abridged: Yes

A Pulitzer Prize–winning, #1 New York Times bestseller, Angela’s Ashes is Frank McCourt’s masterful memoir of his childhood in Ireland.

“When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is... Read more

Douglas Wilson: Honor's Voice

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 8 minutes

Abridged: No

Douglas Wilson, author of Honor's Voice, talks about the life of President Abraham Lincoln. On "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer." Read more

I Think I'm Outta Here - Abridged

By: Carroll O'connor

Narrated by: Caroll O'Connor

Length: 3 hours 3 minutes

Abridged: Yes

It is the genius of actor Carroll O'Connor that millions of fans will forever confuse him with his most unforgettable creation, Archie Bunker. But O'Connor has lived the kind of rich, momentous life that Archie would never have imagined. Now, O'Connor speaks eloquently and intimately about his great triumphs and terrible tragedies -- and a... Read more

Pillar of Fire - Abridged

By: Taylor Branch

Narrated by: CCH Pounder & Joe Morton

Length: 6 hours 47 minutes

Abridged: Yes

From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch, the second part of his epic trilogy on Martin Luther King, Jr. and the American Civil Rights Movement.

In the second volume of his three-part history, a monumental trilogy that began with Parting the Waters, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, Taylor Branch... Read more

Parting the Waters - Abridged

By: Taylor Branch

Narrated by: CCH Pounder & Joe Morton

Length: 6 hours 41 minutes

Abridged: Yes

In Parting the Waters, the first volume of his essential America in the King Years series, Pulitzer Prize winner Taylor Branch gives a “compelling…masterfully told” (The Wall Street Journal) account of Martin Luther King’s early years and rise to greatness.

Hailed as the most masterful story ever told of the American civil rights movement,... Read more

The Power of Character - Abridged

By: Michael Josephson, Wes Hanson, Warren Bennis, S...

Narrated by: David Ackroyd

Length: 14 minutes

Abridged: Yes

There is no higher praise we can give people than to say they have good character. But what does this mean, really? What makes this quality so essential to achieving personal success and fulfillment? More importantly, how can we build our own character and live more satisfying lives? Reflecting society's diversity, the contributors to this... Read more

Abuse of Power

By: Stanley Kutler

Narrated by: William Windom, David Ackroyd & David Dukes

Length: 8 hours 29 minutes

Abridged: No

Twenty-five years after the existence of Nixon's secret White House recordings became known, the tapes were released. These tapes dominated the final two years of Nixon's presidency and almost single-handedly forced his resignation. In Abuse of Power, the listener is invited into the Oval Office with Nixon and the White House staff as they try... Read more

Lift Every Voice - Abridged

By: Walter Turnbull & Howard Manly

Narrated by: Gregory T. Daniel

Length: 2 hours 42 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Miracles can and do happen— when one does the footwork. Dr. Walter Turnbull dreamed of creating opportunities and better lives for the children of Harlem, and Lift Every Voice is the inspirational story of how he realized his dream. Dr. Turnbull shares the hard-bought wisdom he learned throughout his life— from his... Read more

Diana

By: Peter Donnelly

Narrated by: Samantha Eggar

Length: 2 hours 6 minutes

Abridged: No

Born with the proverbial silver spoon in her mouth, the Honorable Diana Frances Spencer attained wealth, power, and title with her marriage to Charles, Prince of Wales. But her ultimate triumph owed nothing to those circumstances and everything to her inner qualities: an innate ability to understand and connect with ordinary people, particularly... Read more

Angela's Ashes

By: Frank McCourt

Narrated by: Frank McCourt

Length: 15 hours 8 minutes

Abridged: No

A Pulitzer Prize–winning, #1 New York Times bestseller, Angela’s Ashes is Frank McCourt’s masterful memoir of his childhood in Ireland.

“When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is... Read more

The Children's Book of Heroes - Abridged

By: William J. Bennett

Narrated by: William J. Bennett

Length: 1 hour 10 minutes

Abridged: Yes

William Bennett and Michael Hague, the team that brought us the national bestseller The Children's Book of Virtues, have once again collaborated to create The Children's Book of Heroes, a beautifully illustrated celebration of heroic deeds, both real and fictional, that will delight and inspire millions of young children and their parents.

"We... Read more

Wait Till Next Year - Abridged

By: Doris Kearns Goodwin

Narrated by: Doris Kearns Goodwin

Length: 2 hours 52 minutes

Abridged: Yes

By the award-winning author of Team of Rivals and The Bully Pulpit, Wait Till Next Year is Doris Kearns Goodwin’s touching memoir of growing up in love with her family and baseball.

Set in the suburbs of New York in the 1950s, Wait Till Next Year re-creates the postwar era, when the corner store was a place to share stories and neighborhoods were... Read more

Molecules of Emotion - Abridged

By: Candace B. Pert

Narrated by: Candace B. Pert

Length: 3 hours 3 minutes

Abridged: Yes

The bestselling and revolutionary book that serves as a “landmark in our understanding of the mind-body connection” (Deepak Chopra, MD).

Why do we feel the way we feel? How do our thoughts and emotions affect our health?

In her groundbreaking book Molecules of Emotion, Candace Pert—an extraordinary neuroscientist who played a pivotal role in the... Read more

Home and Away

By: Kevin Kling

Narrated by: Kevin Kling

Length: 1 hour 15 minutes

Abridged: No

It is the beginning of the Gulf War. While Iraq is being bombed, deep in the heart of Minnesota the Kling family saga unfolds. Award-winning playwright and author Kevin Kling builds a carefully constructed universe out of materials both familiar and astonishing. Well-known for his gift of taking the weird and mundane experiences of life and... Read more

All but My Life - Abridged

By: Gerda Weissman Klein

Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat

Length: 6 hours 28 minutes

Abridged: Yes

All but My Life tells the haunting story of Gerda Weissman Klein’s experience under the Nazi regime. Taken from her home in Bielitz, Poland, and sent to German labor camps, Gerda survived and was liberated by American troops. In her memoir, Klein takes audiences on an alarming journey from the comforts of life in Poland to the horrifying... Read more

My Most Unforgettable Character

By: Reader's Digest

Narrated by: Mason Adams

Length: 1 hour 37 minutes

Abridged: No

From Reader's Digest magazine's popular series, “The Most Unforgettable Character I Ever Met” comes a collection of stories about people who made a big impact on the lives of these contributors. Each individual shares something in common: They struck home in the memory of the storyteller. These figures enriched lives through humor, wisdom,... Read more

Unfinished Lives

By: Marilyn Beck

Narrated by: Richard Grieco

Length: 1 hour 30 minutes

Abridged: No

Over his lifetime, Elvis Presley racked up more than 100 top forty hits, including 18 number one singles. One of the world's most iconic performers, the King of Rock ‘ n' Roll died at the age of 42 from a heart attack complicated by years of drug use. By the time she turned eighteen, shy talented Frances Gumm... Read more

Unfinished Lives

By: Paul Rosenfield

Narrated by: Adrian Pasdar

Length: 1 hour 16 minutes

Abridged: No

Norma Jean Baker was a Hollywood starlet who transformed into Marilyn Monroe, a Hollywood sex symbol and one of the world's most iconic figures. Sadly, she died at age 36 in 1962 from a drug overdose. Montgomery Clift was a highly regarded actor who earned four Academy Award nominations for such classics as A Place in the Sun and From Here to... Read more

Unfinished Lives

By: Les Whitten

Narrated by: Anthony Heald

Length: 1 hour 4 minutes

Abridged: No

John F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States, and the youngest man elected to the office. He was assassinated at the age of 46 in 1963. Arthur Ashe was an African American professional tennis player who won more than forty singles titles, including the Australian Open, the U.S. Open, and Wimbledon. He died in 1993 at the age of 49... Read more