Literary Criticism audiobooks

The Best Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

By: Caroline Kennedy

Narrated by: Caroline Kennedy, Edward M. Kennedy, Viola Davi...

Length: 2 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: No

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis loved literature, especially poetry. "Once you can express yourself," she wrote, "you can tell the world what you want from it...All the changes in the world, for good or evil, were first brought about by words". Now, Caroline Kennedy shares her mother's favorite poems and the inspiration behind her strong belief in... Read more

Discontent and its Civilizations

By: Mohsin Hamid

Narrated by: Mohsin Hamid

Length: 4 hours 25 minutes

Abridged: No

From “one of his generation’s most inventive and gifted writers” (The New York Times), intimate and sharply observed commentary on life, art, politics, and “the war on terror.”
 
Mohsin Hamid’s brilliant, moving, and extraordinarily clever novels have not only made him an international bestseller, they have earned him a reputation as a “master... Read more

W.G. Sebald's The Rings of Saturn

By: W.G. Sebald

Narrated by: Rick Moody, Dinaw Mengestru, Denis O'Hare & Har...

Length: 1 hour 7 minutes

Abridged: No

Rick Moody (The Ice Storm), Dinaw Mengestu (All Our Names), and Hari Kunzru (Gods Without Men) lead a spirited conversation of Sebald's classic. Denis O'Hare (American Horror Story) will read an excerpt. Read more

Notes of a Native Son

By: James Baldwin

Narrated by: Ron Butler

Length: 5 hours 3 minutes

Abridged: No

At last, a new audio edition of the book many have called James Baldwin's most influential work!Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view of black life and black thought at the dawn of the civil rights movement and as the movement slowly gained... Read more

Discrimination: The Defining Of Discrimination Through To Kill A Mockingbird And A Time To Kill

By: Trevor Clinger

Narrated by: K. Zens

Length: 9 minutes

Abridged: No

In this insightful exploration, the pervasive issue of discrimination is examined through the lens of history, contemporary society, and political dynamics. While strides have been made in combatting discrimination, challenges persist for individuals based on gender, race, and socioeconomic status. With a nuanced understanding of... Read more

Rabih Alameddine's An Unnecessary Woman

By: Rabih Alameddine

Narrated by: Elizabeth Strout & Mia Dillon

Length: 1 hour 16 minutes

Abridged: No

One of the Middle East's most celebrated writers, Rabih Alameddine, discusses his novel An Unnecessary Woman, an intimate and moving portrait of a reclusive book-loving 72-year-old Lebanese woman who views her complicated past through the lens of her favorite works of literature.

In conversation with Elizabeth Strout (Olive Kitteridge). Mia... Read more

I Think You're Totally Wrong

By: David Shields & Caleb Powell

Narrated by: Luis Moreno & Jonathan Todd Ross

Length: 5 hours 42 minutes

Abridged: No

A debate, nearly to the death, about life and art, cocktails included. And a soon-to-be major motion picture from James Franco! Caleb Powell always wanted to become an artist, but he overcommitted to life (he' s a stay-at-home dad to three young girls), whereas his former professor David Shields always wanted to become a human being, but he has... Read more

Shakespeare, Our Contemporary

By: Jan Kott

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 11 hours 1 minute

Abridged: No

Shakespeare, Our Contemporary is a provocative, original study of the major plays of Shakespeare. More than that, it is one of the few critical works to have strongly influenced theatrical productions.Peter Brook and Charles Marowitz are among the many directors who have acknowledged their debt to Jan Kott, finding in his analogies between... Read more

A Bit of Brontës, a Dollop of Dickinson, an Offering of Austen

By: Elliot Engel

Narrated by: various narrators, Joan Allen, Stephanie Beacha...

Length: 6 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

They are icons of the literary world whose soaring works have been discussed and analyzed in countless classrooms, homes, and pubs. Yet for most readers, the living, breathing human beings behind the classics have remained unknown—until now. In this utterly captivating book, Dr. Elliot Engel, a leading authority on the lives of great authors,... Read more

Moby Dick

By: Timothy B. Shutt

Narrated by: Timothy B. Shutt

Length: 4 hours 16 minutes

Abridged: No

No American masterpiece casts quite as awesome a shadow as Melville's monumental Moby Dick. Mad Captain Ahab's quest for the White Whale is a timeless epic--a stirring tragedy of vengeance and obsession, a searing parable about humanity lost in a universe of moral ambiguity. It is the greatest sea story ever told. Far ahead of its own time, Moby... Read more

Roz Chast and Jules Feiffer

By: Roz Chast & Jules Feiffer

Narrated by: Franciose Mouly

Length: 1 hour 19 minutes

Abridged: No

The iconic and irresistible cartoonists join up to talk about their new books: Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, a graphic memoir by Chast, and Kill My Mother, a noir graphic novel by Feiffer.

In conversation with New Yorker art editor Françoise Mouly. Presented in association with Strand Bookstore. Read more

Thalia Book Club: No Land's Man

By: Aasif Mandvi

Narrated by: Dean Obeidallah

Length: 1 hour 6 minutes

Abridged: No

Comedian and Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi presents his new (and first) book No Land's Man, a laugh-out-loud account of a second-generation immigrant's search for meaning and identity in an increasingly confusing world. In this collection of personal essays, Mandvi reveals the many contradictory layers of his past in Bombay, England, and... Read more

Updike

By: Adam Begley

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 20 hours 11 minutes

Abridged: No

A masterful, much-anticipated biography of one of the most celebrated figures in American literature: Pulitzer Prize–winning author John Updike—a candid, intimate, and richly detailed look at his life and workIn this magisterial biography, Adam Begley offers an illuminating portrait of John Updike, the acclaimed novelist, poet, short-story... Read more

The Secret History of Wonder Woman

By: Jill Lepore

Narrated by: Jill Lepore

Length: 9 hours 4 minutes

Abridged: No

A riveting work of historical detection revealing that the origin of one of the world’s most iconic superheroes hides within it a fascinating family story—and a crucial history of twentieth-century feminism

Wonder Woman, created in 1941, is the most popular female superhero of all time. Aside from Superman and Batman, no superhero has lasted as... Read more

The Republic of Imagination

By: Azar Nafisi

Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò

Length: 10 hours 7 minutes

Abridged: No

A New York Times bestseller

The author of the beloved #1 New York Times bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran returns with the next chapter of her life in books—a passionate and deeply moving hymn to America
 
Ten years ago, Azar Nafisi electrified readers with her multimillion-copy bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran, which told the story of how,... Read more

Of Mice and Men Summary Analysis: Themes, Motifs, Symbols, and Societal Impact

By: Trevor Clinger

Narrated by: Bruce T Harvey

Length: 18 minutes

Abridged: No

Dive deep into the timeless classic "Of Mice and Men" with this meticulously crafted research paper, the culmination of an ENG 300 course. Immerse yourself in a comprehensive analysis that explores the novel's rich tapestry of symbols, themes, and motifs, offering fresh insights into its enduring significance. Authored by a seasoned scholar with... Read more

A Slip of the Keyboard

By: Terry Pratchett

Narrated by: Michael Fenton Stevens

Length: 9 hours 7 minutes

Abridged: No

A collection of essays and other non fiction from Terry Pratchett, spanning the whole of his writing career from his early years to the present day.
     Terry Pratchett has earned a place in the hearts of readers the world over with his bestselling Discworld series -- but in recent years he has become equally well-known and respected as an... Read more

Pseudonymous Bosch's Bad Magic

By: Pseudonymous Bosch

Narrated by: Pseudonymous Bosch & Adam Gidwitz

Length: 47 minutes

Abridged: No

The mysterious author of the New York Times-bestselling book The Name of This Book is Secret, as well as the other dangerous and daring adventures in the hugely popular Secret Series gives a behind-the-scenes look at his new adventure series Bad Magic. In conversation with Adam Gidwitz (A Tale Dark and Grimm). Read more

So We Read On

By: Maureen Corrigan

Narrated by: Maureen Corrigan

Length: 10 hours 40 minutes

Abridged: No

The "Fresh Air" book critic investigates the enduring power of The Great Gatsby -- "The Great American Novel we all think we've read, but really haven't."

Conceived nearly a century ago by a man who died believing himself a failure, it's now a revered classic and a rite of passage in the reading lives of millions. But how well do we really know... Read more

Giants of the British Novel, Part I

By: Timothy B. Shutt

Narrated by: Timothy B. Shutt

Length: 4 hours 4 minutes

Abridged: No

It can reasonably be argued that the British invented the novel. And to understand the way in which the novel, as a literary form, developed in Britain is key to understanding the literary form itself. In this first of a two-part series, beloved Modern Scholar professor Timothy B. Shutt takes listeners on a panoramic journey across the colorful... Read more

The Mockingbird Next Door

By: Marja Mills

Narrated by: Amy Lynn Stewart

Length: 8 hours 10 minutes

Abridged: No

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of the best loved novels of the twentieth century. But for the last fifty years, the novel’s celebrated author, Harper Lee, has said almost nothing on the record. Journalists have trekked to her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, where Harper Lee, known to her friends as Nelle, has lived with her sister,... Read more

Tail of Vengeance

By: Spencer Quinn

Narrated by: Jim Frangione

Length: 1 hour 4 minutes

Abridged: No

Chet and Bernie-everybody's favorite human-canine detective team-are asked by a beautiful woman to find evidence that would put her cheating boyfriend in the doghouse in this e-original short story from New York Times bestselling author Spencer Quinn. Read more

Why "Doctor Zhivago" was dangerous

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 6 minutes

Abridged: No

When Boris Pasternak finished his novel Dr. Zhivago in 1956, Soviet authorities refused to publish the tale of an individual’s struggle amid the Russian Revolution. A new book, The Zhivago Affair, tells the story of how Pasternak’s novel came to be published and smuggled back into the Soviet Union — with help from the CIA. Jeffrey Brown talks to... Read more

Thalia Book Club: Gary Shteyngart Little Failure: A Memoir

By: Gary Shteyngart

Narrated by: Jay McInerney

Length: 1 hour 23 minutes

Abridged: No

In conversation with Jay McInerney (Bright Lights, Big City). The author of Super Sad True Love Story presents his new memoir, a seriously hilarious exploration of his life so far. Read more