Essays audiobooks

The Dogs Who Found Me

By: Ken Foster

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

Length: 4 hours 39 minutes

Abridged: No

Disaster-prone writer and reluctant dog rescuer Ken Foster never intended to adopt an abandoned dog. But after bringing Brando home, he finds it hard not to notice how many homeless strays there are in the city. Suddenly, he finds them everywhere—from a beagle abandoned in a New York City dog run to a pit bull in a Mississippi truck stop—and... Read more

Death by Black Hole, and Other Cosmic Quandaries

By: Neil deGrasse Tyson

Narrated by: Dion Graham

Length: 12 hours 5 minutes

Abridged: No

“[Tyson] tackles a great range of subjects…with great humor, humility, and—most important—humanity.” —Entertainment WeeklyNeil deGrasse Tyson has a talent for guiding readers through the mysteries of outer space with stunning clarity and almost childlike enthusiasm. Here, Tyson compiles his favorite essays that he wrote for Natural History... Read more

China Road

By: Rob Gifford

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 10 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

National Public Radio’s Beijing correspondent Rob Gifford recounts his travels along Route 312, the Chinese Mother Road, the longest route in the world’s most populous nation. Based on his successful NPR radio series, China Road draws on Gifford’s twenty years of observing firsthand this rapidly transforming country, as he travels east to west,... Read more

Gullible’s Travels

By: Cash Peters

Narrated by: Cash Peters

Length: 8 hours 11 minutes

Abridged: No

For years, British journalist Cash Peters trekked around Europe and America visiting some of the tackiest attractions in the world for his hugely popular public radio series, The Bad Taste Tours. But a guy can only take so much. Now, as Peters prepares to leave his travel-reporting days behind forever, he takes us along on some of the more... Read more

The Sex Lives of Cannibals

By: J. Maarten Troost

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 8 hours 36 minutes

Abridged: No

At age twenty-six, Maarten Troost decided to pack up his flip-flops and move to a remote South Pacific island. The idea of dropping everything and moving to the ends of the earth was irresistibly romantic. He should have known better.This book tells the hilarious story of what happens when he discovers that the island is not the paradise he... Read more

Getting Stoned with Savages

By: J. Maarten Troost

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 7 hours 26 minutes

Abridged: No

Getting Stoned with Savages again reveals Troost’s wry wit and infectious joy of discovery in a hilarious account of life in the farthest reaches of the world.After two grueling years on the island of Tarawa, Troost was in no hurry to return to the South Pacific—until he began to feel remarkably out of place in modern America—and he knew it was... Read more

The Sense of Wonder

By: Rachel L. Carson

Narrated by: Kaiulani Lee

Length: 33 minutes

Abridged: No

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in…If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each... Read more

Consider the Lobster (A Story from Consider the Lobster) - Abridged

By: David Foster Wallace

Narrated by: David Foster Wallace

Length: 3 hours 48 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Do lobsters feel pain? Did Franz Kafka have a funny bone? What is John Updike's deal, anyway? And what happens when adult video starlets meet their fans in person?

David Foster Wallace answers these questions and more in essays that are also enthralling narrative adventures. Whether covering the three-ring circus of John McCain's 2000... Read more

Fire

By: Sebastian Junger

Narrated by: Kevin Conway

Length: 8 hours 25 minutes

Abridged: No

For readers and viewers of The Perfect Storm, opening this long-awaited new work by Sebastian Junger will be like stepping off the deck of the Andrea Gail and into the inferno of a fire burning out of control in the steep canyons of Idaho. Here is the same meticulous prose brought to bear on the inner workings of a terrifying elemental force;... Read more

The Dilbert Principle - Abridged

By: Scott Adams

Narrated by: Scott Adams

Length: 1 hour 10 minutes

Abridged: Yes

The creator of Dilbert, the fastest-growing comic strip in the nation, takes a look at corporate America in all its glorious lunacy.These hilarious essays on incompetent bosses, rampant management fads, bewildering technological changes, and so much more, will make anyone who has ever worked in an office laugh out loud in recognition.The Dilbert... Read more

Character is Destiny

By: John McCain

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Length: 14 hours 5 minutes

Abridged: No

In Character is Destiny, McCain tells the stories of celebrated historical figures and lesser-known heroes whose values exemplify the best of the human spirit. He illustrates these qualities with moving stories of triumph against the odds, righteousness in the face of iniquity, hope in adversity, and sacrifices for a cause greater than... Read more

High Tide in Tucson - Abridged

By: Barbara Kingsolver

Narrated by: Barbara Kingsolver

Length: 2 hours 48 minutes

Abridged: Yes

""Clever. . . magical. . . beautifully crafted. Kingsolver spins you around the philosophic world a dozen times."" — Milwaukee Sentinel""Kingsolver's essays should be savored like quiet afternoons with a friend."" —New York Times Book ReviewIn this brilliant essay collection, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Kingsolver turns to her favored... Read more

Your Money or Your Life - Abridged

By: Neil Cavuto

Narrated by: Neil Cavuto

Length: 5 hours 33 minutes

Abridged: Yes

As the host of Fox News Channel's Your World with Neil Cavuto and Cavuto on Business, Neil Cavuto reports on today's most influential newsmakers, from CEOs to politicians -- getting behind the story by connecting with the men and women who made it. And he ends each show with his own personal commentaries -- sometimes witty, often inspiring, and... Read more

Small Wonder - Abridged

By: Barbara Kingsolver

Narrated by: Barbara Kingsolver

Length: 10 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: Yes

In twenty-two wonderfully articulate essays, Barbara Kingsolver raises her voice in praise of nature, family, literature, and the joys of everyday life while examining the genesis of war, violence, and poverty in our worldFrom the author of High Tide in Tucson, comes Small Wonder, a new collection of essays that begins with a parable gleaned... Read more

Talk to the Hand

By: Lynne Truss

Narrated by: Lynne Truss

Length: 1 hour 56 minutes

Abridged: No

"Talk to the hand, ’cause the face ain’t listening," the saying goes.When did the world stop wanting to hear? When did society become so thoughtless? It’s a topic that has been simmering for years, and Lynne Truss says it’s now reached the boiling point. Taking on the boorish behavior that for some has become a point of pride, Talk to the Hand... Read more

The Truth (with jokes)

By: Al Franken

Narrated by: Al Franken

Length: 9 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

Al Franken's landmark bestseller, Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them…a Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, was praised as a "bitterly funny assault" (The New York Times) that rang "with the moral clarity of an angel's trumpet" (Associated Press). Now, this master of political humor strikes again with a powerful and provocative message for... Read more

Character Is Destiny - Abridged

By: John McCain & Mark Salter

Narrated by: John McCain

Length: 4 hours 51 minutes

Abridged: Yes

In Character is Destiny, McCain tells the stories of celebrated historical figures and lesser-known heroes whose values exemplify the best of the human spirit. He illustrates these qualities with moving stories of triumph against the odds, righteousness in the face of iniquity, hope in adversity, and sacrifices for a cause greater than ... Read more

Hidden Kitchens - Abridged

By: Davia Nelson & Nikki Silva

Narrated by: Frances McDormand

Length: 3 hours 12 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Food is our common ground, a universal experience. –James Beard
The saga of the Chili Queens of San Antonio, NASCAR kitchens tucked away in the crew pits at race tracks, the story of an unexpected kitchen—the George Foreman Grill—these stories and more from Hidden Kitchens, the popular and highly acclaimed radio series on NPR's morning... Read more

Fire - Abridged

By: Sebastian Junger

Narrated by: Sebastian Junger

Length: 3 hours 17 minutes

Abridged: Yes

For readers and viewers of The Perfect Storm, opening this long-awaited new work by Sebastian Junger will be like stepping off the deck of the Andrea Gail and into the inferno of a fire burning out of control in the steep canyons of Idaho. Here is the same meticulous prose brought to bear on the inner workings of a terrifying elemental force;... Read more

The City of Falling Angels

By: John Berendt

Narrated by: Holter Graham

Length: 12 hours 51 minutes

Abridged: No

It was seven years ago that Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil achieved a record-breaking four-year run on the New York Times bestseller list. John Berendt's inimitable brand of nonfiction brought the dark mystique of Savannah so startlingly to life for millions of people that tourism to Savannah increased by 46%. It is Berendt and only... Read more

The City of Falling Angels - Abridged

By: John Berendt

Narrated by: John Berendt

Length: 5 hours 44 minutes

Abridged: Yes

It was seven years ago that Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil achieved a record-breaking four-year run on the New York Times bestseller list. John Berendt's inimitable brand of nonfiction brought the dark mystique of Savannah so startlingly to life for millions of people that tourism to Savannah increased by 46%. It is Berendt and only... Read more

JOHN CHANCELLOR MAKES ME CRY - Abridged

By: Anne Rivers Siddons

Narrated by: Dana Ivey

Length: 2 hours 58 minutes

Abridged: Yes

In this collection of heartfelt and involving vignettes, Anne Rivers Siddons, the beloved best-selling author of Downtown, Hill Towns, and Colony, offers a stirring and insightful look at our everyday world and how one woman has chosen to live in it. Moving from memories of her gentle grandfather to her uncanny ability to attract stray animals,... Read more

Don't Get Too Comfortable

By: David Rakoff

Narrated by: David Rakoff

Length: 6 hours 1 minute

Abridged: No

The Indignities of Coach Class, the Torments of Low Thread Count, the Never-Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems

David Rakoff’s collection of autobiographical essays, Fraud, established him as one of our funniest, most insightful writers. In Don’t Get Too Comfortable, Rakoff journeys into the land of plenty that is... Read more

Wild Ducks Flying Backward

By: Tom Robbins

Narrated by: Tom Robbins & Debra Winger

Length: 7 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

Known for his meaty seriocomic novels–expansive works that are simultaneously lowbrow and highbrow–Tom Robbins has also published over the years a number of short pieces, predominantly nonfiction. His travel articles, essays, and tributes to actors, musicians, sex kittens, and thinkers have appeared in publications ranging from Esquire to... Read more