Essays audiobooks

My Life in France - Abridged

By: Julia Child & Alex Prud'homme

Narrated by: Flo Salant Greenberg

Length: 5 hours 1 minute

Abridged: Yes

In her own words, here is the captivating story of Julia Child’s years in France, where she fell in love with French food and found her “true calling.”

From the moment the ship docked in Le Havre, en route to Paris, in the fall of 1948, Julia had an awakening that changed her life. Soon this tall, outspoken gal from Pasadena, California, who... Read more

Cesar's Way - Abridged

By: Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier

Narrated by: Cesar Millan

Length: TBA

Abridged: Yes

Cesar Millan—nationally recognized dog expert—helps you see the world through the eyes of your dog so you can finally eliminate problem behaviors.

From his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show to his roster of celebrity clients to his reality television series, Cesar Millan is America’s most sought-after dog-behavior expert. But Cesar... Read more

Holidays on Ice - Abridged

By: David Sedaris

Narrated by: David Sedaris, Ann Magnuson & Amy Sedaris

Length: 3 hours 10 minutes

Abridged: Yes

David Sedaris's beloved holiday collection is new again with six more pieces, including a never before published story. Along with such favoritesas the diaries of a Macy's elf and the annals of two very competitive families, are Sedaris's tales of tardy trick-or-treaters ("Us and Them"); the difficulties of explaining the Easter Bunny to the... Read more

A Year in the World

By: Frances Mayes

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 17 hours 20 minutes

Abridged: No

The author who unforgettably captured the experience of starting a new life in Tuscany in bestselling travel memoirs expands her horizons to immerse herself—and her readers—in the sights, aromas, and treasures of twelve new special places.

A Year in the World is vintage Frances Mayes—a celebration of the allure of travel, of serendipitous... Read more

A Year in the World - Abridged

By: Frances Mayes

Narrated by: Frances Mayes

Length: 6 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: Yes

The author who unforgettably captured the experience of starting a new life in Tuscany in bestselling travel memoirs expands her horizons to immerse herself—and her readers—in the sights, aromas, and treasures of twelve new special places.

A Year in the World is vintage Frances Mayes—a celebration of the allure of travel, of serendipitous... Read more

WHY DO CLOCKS RUN CLOCKWISE - Abridged

By: David Feldman

Narrated by: David Feldman

Length: 58 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Ponder, if you will ...
What is the difference between a kit and a caboodle?
Why don't people get goose bumps on their faces?
Where do houseflies go in the winter?
What causes that ringing sound in your ears?Pop-culture guru David Feldman demystifies these topics and so much more in Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise? -- the unchallenged source of answers... Read more

Eat, Pray, Love

By: Elizabeth Gilbert

Narrated by: Elizabeth Gilbert

Length: 12 hours 48 minutes

Abridged: No

A transformational journey through Italy, India, and Bali searching for pleasure and devotion—the massive bestseller from the author of The Signature of All Things

This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the... Read more

Dave Barry's Money Secrets

By: Dave Barry

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 5 hours 30 minutes

Abridged: No

Did you ever wish that you really understood money? Well, Dave Barry wishes that he did, too. But that hasn’t stopped him from writing a book about how to understand money. In it, Dave explores (as only he can) such topics as· How the U.S. economy works, including the often-overlooked role of Adam Sandler.
· Why it is not a good idea to use... Read more

Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow

By: Jerome K. Jerome

Narrated by: Peter Joyce

Length: 5 hours

Abridged: No

Over one hundred years since it was first published Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow addresses subjects which are still relevant today – perhaps more so! Being hard up, being in the blues and being in love are just some aspects of the human condition on which Jerome K. Jerome reflects in his unique whimsical fashion. These insights are not given... 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

Tales of the Alhambra

By: Washington Irving

Narrated by: Geoffrey Howard

Length: 8 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: No

Written in 1831, Washington Irving’s dreamlike description of the Alhambra, the beautiful Moorish castle that defined the height of Moorish civilization, and of the surrounding territory of Granada remains one of the most romantic and entertaining travelogues ever written of this region in Spain.Enhanced here with exquisite Spanish guitar music,... 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

Philosophy: Who Needs It

By: Ayn Rand

Narrated by: Lloyd James

Length: 10 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

Who needs philosophy? Ayn Rand’s answer: Everyone.This collection of essays was the last work planned by Ayn Rand before her death in 1982. In it, she summarizes her view of philosophy and deals with a broad spectrum of topics. According to Ayn Rand, the choice we make is not whether to have a philosophy but which one to have: a rational,... 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

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

The Sweet Science

By: A. J. Liebling

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 8 hours 40 minutes

Abridged: No

This collection of A. J. Liebling's classic New Yorker pieces on the "sweet science of bruising" brings vividly to life the boxing world as it once was. It depicts the great events of boxing's American heyday, including Sugar Ray Robinson's dramatic comeback, Rocky Marciano's rise to prominence, and Joe Louis's unfortunate decline. Liebling... Read more

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

God and Mr. Gomez

By: Jack Smith

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 6 hours 55 minutes

Abridged: No

When Jack and Denny Smith decided to build a vacation dream house in Baja, California, they had no idea they were entering a phase of their lives “that would capture the fancy of readers throughout the United States.” Through a series of strange and whimsical adventures, they would find that building a house takes God and Mr. Gomez.As their... Read more

Scott’s Last Expedition

By: Robert Falcon Scott

Narrated by: William Sutherland

Length: 18 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

In November 1910, the vessel Terra Nova left New Zealand carrying an international team of explorers led by Robert Falcon Scott, an Englishman determined to be the first man to reach the South Pole. Scott kept a detailed journal of his adventures until March 29, 1912, when he and the few remaining members of his team met their ends in a brutal... 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

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