Categories: Arts & Entertainment, Entertainment & Performing Arts
Blowing the Bloody Doors Off
And Other Lessons in Life
By: Michael Caine
Narrated by: Michael Caine
One of our best-loved actors, Michael Caine has starred in over 100 films in his six-decade career, spanning classic movies like Alfie, Zulu, and The Italian Job (the inspiration for the book title) to playing Alfred opposite Christian Bale's Batman in Christopher Nolan's blockbuster Dark Knight trilogy. Caine has excelled in every kind of role - with a skill that's made it look easy. As he says, "Small parts can lead to big things. And if you keep doing things right, the stars will align when you least expect it."
By Gregory C. Fowler on 10-27-18
Mobituaries
By: Mo Rocca
Narrated by: Mo Rocca
Mo Rocca has always loved obituaries - reading about the remarkable lives of global leaders, Hollywood heavyweights, and innovators who changed the world. But not every notable life has gotten the send-off it deserves. His quest to right that wrong inspired Mobituaries, his number one hit podcast. Now with Mobituaries, the audiobook, he has gone much further, with all new essays on artists, entertainers, sports stars, political pioneers, founding fathers, and more. Even if you know the names, you've never understood why they matter...until now.
Very good, but.....
By Christopher on 11-15-19
By: Matthew McConaughey
Narrated by: Matthew McConaughey
I've been in this life for 50 years, been trying to work out its riddle for 42, and been keeping diaries of clues to that riddle for the last 35. Notes about successes and failures, joys and sorrows, things that made me marvel, and things that made me laugh out loud. How to be fair. How to have less stress. How to have fun. How to hurt people less. How to get hurt less. How to be a good man. How to have meaning in life. How to be more me.
By Nancy on 10-21-20
By: Alec Baldwin
Narrated by: Alec Baldwin
One of the most accomplished and outspoken actors today chronicles the highs and lows of his life in this beautifully written, candid memoir.
Embarrassingly petty
By Stacey Robinson on 09-20-18
The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius
By: Marc J. Seifer
Narrated by: Simon Prebble
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), credited as the inspiration for radio, robots, and even radar, has been called the patron saint of modern electricity. Based on original material and previously unavailable documents, this acclaimed book is the definitive biography of the man considered by many to be the founding father of modern electrical technology.
Tesla was a hundred years ahead of his time
By Jean on 01-28-12
Almost Interesting
By: David Spade
Narrated by: David Spade
David Spade is best known for his harsh "Hollywood Minute" sketches on SNL, his starring roles in movies like Tommy Boy and Joe Dirt, and his seven-year stint as Dennis Finch on the series Just Shoot Me. Now, with a wit as dry as the weather in his home state of Arizona, the "comic brat extraordinaire" delivers a memoir.
Everything You Could Want in an Autobiography
By Zoegirl777 on 10-30-15
A Life in War, Law, and Ideas
By: Stephen Budiansky
Holmes twice escaped death as a young Union officer in the Civil War when musket balls barely missed his heart and spinal cord. He lived ever after with unwavering moral courage, scorn for dogma, and an insatiable intellectual curiosity. Named to the Supreme Court by Theodore Roosevelt at age 61, he served for nearly three decades, writing a series of famous, eloquent, and often dissenting opinions that would prove prophetic in securing freedom of speech, protecting the rights of criminal defendants, and ending the Court's reactionary resistance to social and economic reforms.
Top-Notch Biography
Baby, Don't Hurt Me
Stories and Scars from Saturday Night Live
By: Chris Kattan
Narrated by: Chris Kattan
Chris Kattan has defied comparison, expectations, and sometimes gravity with his inimitable style of physical comedy. By creating some of the most memorable Saturday Night Live characters, as well as his many roles in film and television, Kattan has remained one of the most fearless and versatile comedians in the world. Now, for the first time, Kattan opens up about eight seasons on SNL, performing alongside friends and future legends including Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, and Tina Fey, and guest hosts from Charlize Theron to Tom Hanks to David Bowie.
Funny and complex.
By Anna Jennings on 05-15-19
By: David Attenborough
Narrated by: David Attenborough
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the book's first publication, David Attenborough has revisited Life on Earth, completely updating and adding to the original text, taking account of modern scientific discoveries from around the globe....
100% Pure Attenborough
By Dave on 09-25-18
Still Foolin' 'Em
Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys
By: Billy Crystal
Narrated by: Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal is 65, and he's not happy about it. With his trademark wit and heart, he outlines the absurdities and challenges that come with growing old, from insomnia to memory loss to leaving dinners with half your meal on your shirt. In humorous chapters like ""Buying the Plot"" and ""Nodding Off,"" Crystal not only catalogues his physical gripes, but offers a road map to his 77 million fellow baby boomers who are arriving at this milestone age with him. He also looks back at the most powerful and memorable moments of his long and storied life, from entertaining his relatives as a kid in Long Beach, Long Island, and his years doing stand-up in the Village, up through his legendary stint at Saturday Night Live, When Harry Met Sally, and his long run as host of the Academy Awards. Listeners get a front-row seat to his one-day career with the New York Yankees (he was the first player to ever ""test positive for Maalox""), his love affair with Sophia Loren, and his enduring friendships with several of his idols, including Mickey Mantle and Muhammad Ali. He lends a light touch to more serious topics like religion (""the aging friends I know have turned to the Holy Trinity: Advil, bourbon, and Prozac""); grandparenting; and, of course, dentistry. As wise and poignant as they are funny, Crystal's reflections are an unforgettable look at an extraordinary life well lived.
Disarmingly Honest
By David Shear on 09-12-13
Promise Me, Dad
A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose
By: Joe Biden
Narrated by: Joe Biden
In November 2014, 13 members of the Biden family gathered on Nantucket for Thanksgiving, a tradition they had been celebrating for the past 40 years; it was the one constant in what had become a hectic, scrutinized, and overscheduled life. The Thanksgiving holiday was a much-needed respite, a time to connect, a time to reflect on what the year had brought, and what the future might hold. But this year felt different from all those that had come before.
A Sad Memoir
The Matriarch
Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty
By: Susan Page
Narrated by: Kate Levy
A vivid biography of former first lady Barbara Bush, one of the most influential and underappreciated women in American political history.
Wonderful Book, amazing woman
By Kathi on 04-11-19
A World Undone
The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918
By: G. J. Meyer
Narrated by: Robin Sachs
The First World War is one of history's greatest tragedies. In this remarkable and intimate account, author G. J. Meyer draws on exhaustive research to bring to life the story of how the Great War reduced Europe's mightiest empires to rubble, killed 20 million people, and cracked the foundations of the world we live in today. World War I is unique in the number of questions about it that remain unsettled. After more than 90 years, scholars remain divided on these questions, and it seems likely that they always will.
Excellent Overview of the "Overshadowed" War
By Andrew on 12-14-12
The History of the Ancient World
From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome
By: Susan Wise Bauer
Narrated by: John Lee
This is the first volume in a bold new series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country. Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history. This narrative history employs the methods of "history from beneath" - literature, epic traditions, private letters, and accounts - to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled.
Fast paced history
By serine on 01-23-16
An Actor's Education
By: John Lithgow
Narrated by: John Lithgow
In this riveting and surprising personal history, John Lithgow shares a backstage view of his own struggle, crisis, and discovery, revealing the early life and career that took place out of the public eye. Above all Lithgow's memoir is a tribute to his most important influence: his father, Arthur Lithgow, who, as an actor, director, producer, and great lover of Shakespeare, brought theater to John's boyhood. From bedtime stories to Arthur's illustrious productions, performance and storytelling were constant and cherished parts of family life.
By Diane Havens on 05-15-12
How to Forget
A Daughter's Memoir
By: Kate Mulgrew
Narrated by: Kate Mulgrew
They say you can't go home again. But when her father is diagnosed with aggressive lung cancer and her mother with atypical Alzheimer's, New York-based actress Kate Mulgrew returns to her hometown in Iowa to spend time with her parents and care for them in the time they have left. The months Kate spends with her parents in Dubuque - by turns turbulent, tragic, and joyful - lead her to reflect on each of their lives and how they shaped her own.
Dr. Kate Mulgrew articulates end-of-life relationships fluently
By Dr. Chris P. Hafner on 05-27-19
The Autobiography of Ms. Pat
By: Patricia Williams, Jeannine Amber
Narrated by: Patricia Williams
One of five children, Pat watched as her alcoholic mother struggled to get by on charity, cons, and petty crimes. At age seven, Pat was taught to roll drunks for money. At 12, she was targeted for sex by a man eight years her senior; by 13, she was pregnant. By 15, Pat was a mother of two. Alone at 16, Pat was determined to make a better life for her children. But with no job skills and an eighth-grade education, her options were limited. She learned quickly that hustling and humor were the only tools she had to survive.
Skeptical at first...glad I purchased it
By URAL M. OWENS on 05-27-18
By: Patricia Williams, and others
Is This Anything?
By: Jerry Seinfeld
Narrated by: Jerry Seinfeld
Since his first performance at the legendary New York nightclub "Catch a Rising Star" as a 21-year-old college student in fall of 1975, Jerry Seinfeld has written his own material and saved everything. "Whenever I came up with a funny bit, whether it happened on a stage, in a conversation, or working it out on my preferred canvas, the big yellow legal pad, I kept it in one of those old school accordion folders," Seinfeld writes. "So I have everything I thought was worth saving from forty-five years of hacking away at this for all I was worth."
Joke, joke, joke. Boring, boring, boring.
By ECMILLER on 10-11-20
Winner of the 2017 Audie Award for Narration by the Author
A poignant, intimate, funny, inspiring memoir - both a coming-of-age story and a meditation on creativity, devotion, and craft - from Bryan Cranston, beloved and acclaimed star of one of history's most successful TV shows, Breaking Bad.
Bryan Cranston landed his first role at seven, when his father, a struggling actor and director, cast him in a United Way commercial. Soon Bryan was haunting the local movie theater, memorizing and reenacting favorite scenes with his older brother. Acting was clearly the boy's destiny - until one day his father disappeared. Suddenly destiny took a backseat to survival.
Seeking something more stable, perhaps subconsciously trying to distance himself from his absent father, Cranston decided on a career in law enforcement. But then, while a young man on a classic cross-country motorcycle trip, Cranston one day found himself stranded at a rest area in the Blue Ridge Mountains. To pass the time, he read a tattered copy of Hedda Gabler, and in a flash he found himself face-to-face once again with his original calling. Suddenly he thought this was what he wanted to do, what he would do, with the rest of his life. Act.
In his riveting memoir, A Life in Parts, Cranston traces his zigzag journey from his chaotic childhood to his dramatic epiphany and beyond, to megastardom and a cultlike following, by vividly revisiting the many parts he's played on camera and off. With great humor and much humility, Cranston chronicles his unlikely rise from a soap opera regular trying to learn the ropes and the politics of show business on the fly to a recurring spot as Tim Whatley on Seinfeld, finding himself an indelible part of popular culture. He recalls his run as the well-meaning goofball, Hal, on Malcolm in the Middle, proving to writers and fans that he was willing to do anything, anything, for a laugh, and he gives a bracing account of his run on Broadway as President Lyndon Johnson, pushing himself to the limit as he prepared, physically and mentally, for a tour de force that would win him a Tony to go along with his four Emmys.
Of course Cranston dives deep into the grittiest, most fascinating details of his greatest role, explaining how he searched inward for the personal darkness that would help him create one of the most riveting performances ever captured on-screen: Walter White, chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin.
Discussing his failures as few men do, describing his work as few actors can, Cranston has much to say about innate talent and its benefits, challenges, and proper maintenance, but ultimately A Life in Parts is about the necessity and transformative power of hard work.
©2016 Bryan Cranston (P)2016 Simon & Schuster
"The narration is pitch-perfect, profound, and room-filling, thanks to Cranston's sonorous timbre and expert inflections. Audio fidelity and production values are exceptionally strong, and Cranston's performance is on par with any of his award-winning TV roles.... This is a winner - a great listening experience." ( AudioFile)
You Have to F--king Eat
What listeners say about A Life in Parts
Cranston is the hardest worker
Would you consider the audio edition of A Life in Parts to be better than the print version?
Cranston's childhood and teens set him up to know what's important in life. He never was self destructive, or sabotaged his career in any manner. It's unusual to listen to the life and career of Bryan Cranston, hard work and talent, with no goal to become Famous, was the key to Bryan Cranston becoming a World Wide Star.
What other book might you compare A Life in Parts to and why?
Alec Baldwins "Nevertheless" captures a love for the craft of Acting, intelligently written, like "A Life in Parts."
What does Bryan Cranston bring to the story that you wouldn't experience if you just read the book?
His reading the book made me feel like I was able to eavesdrop into one of the most extraordinary careers in modern Hollywood.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
This is a fantastic book – read by an amazing storyteller. It makes me want to go back and change all other previous five star ratings to fours – so that this book stands alone!
Buy this book and start it immediately!
Shopsfromeverywhere
They're all good parts.
Bryan holds nothing back, the reader is left knowing he's been true in his retelling of his life's story. wonderfully written, paced perfectly and performed wonderfully by the author making the read even more enjoyable. I found myself laughing & crying at times but never bored waiting for the next good part to come along, because they are all good parts. Thus far Bryan seems to have had one heck of an interesting life. I can't wait to hear more from him, either written or narrated!
Top Reviews USA
Beyond the Bad
Great book. It was very cool to learn so much more about Bryan Cranston. Beyond his many characters, regressing back into his rocky and near direction-less beginnings. The events that shaped him into the man/actor he has become. Some of the information he shares is so personal and surprising, you can't help but blush, gasp, or laugh out loud as he reads it to you.
Great book. Great man. Bryan Cranston.
Cranston is great, but the book is just so-so
Not bad by any means, just not my most favorite memoir. He's had an interesting life, but I still found that I wasn't gripped by his words. There is some sage advice sprinkled through out. I did appreciate his insight to the different film and tv projects he was on.
Bryan Cranston is magnificent and fascinating! His sense for story telling is compelling and wonderful to listen to. Thank you, Bryan, for such an entertaining book!
Jonathon Myers
Spectacular!
Bryan Cranston is the epitome of what a hard working person is and should be. No matter how big the achievement he remembers that every decision he has made to up to that point got him there. Remembering the people that helped along the way is a form of humility too which we should all aspire.
Deliciously entertaining!
A very enlightening and fun trek through the life of this self made, adventurous man. A man who carved a path through adversity, lived life on his own terms, and found himself in the process. A man who has taken his fans on an emotional rollercoaster ride; from his perfect comedic timing as Hal, to the shockingly human and dark side of Walter White. He will be best remembered for his impeccable ability to force so many of us to look deep into our soul and ask ; 'What would Walter White Do?
J. Mathews
I really wanted to like this more
Bryan Cranston has a great voice. He has lead an interesting life. My issue with this book is that the various stories from his life are not grouped into anything overarching. It's just stories from his life, jumping in time, sometimes working together, but often not.
Pure Insight
Excellent memoir on Bryan Cranston. "A Life in Parts" is a pure insight on his professional career on his acting and also his personal life. Not only he goes in depth on Walter White in Breaking Bad, but he also talks about his failures in his acting. There are very touching moments in this book, where my heart was warmth. When Cranston talks about his mom and how his proposed to his wife is one of those moments where you see his normalcy as being a son and a husband.
Cranston talks a lot on Breaking Bad. It's a must read to anyone that binged watched on one of the best series ever.