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  Coup de Foudre: A Novella and Stories , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 459min

  The explosive new collection by the celebrated author of Thirst and PEN/Faulkner Award finalist Pu-239 and Other Russian Fantasies, Coup de Foudre is the kind of groundbreaking work of literary invention Ken Kalfus' fans have come to expect. The audiobook is anchored by the full text of the provocatively topical title novella that appeared in Harper's, a sometimes farcical, ultimately tragic story about the president of an international lending institution accused of sexually assaulting a housekeeper in a New York hotel. Recalling recent news events with irony and compassion, Kalfus skewers international political gridlock and the hypocrisies of acceptable sexual conduct. In "The Moment They Were Waiting For", a murderer on death row casts a spell granting the inhabitants of his city the foreknowledge of the dates they will die. In "v. The Large Hadron Collider", a judge distracted by the faint possibility of an adulterous affair must decide whether to throw out a nuisance lawsuit that raises the even fainter possibility that the entire Earth may be destroyed. "The Un-" is a nostalgic story of a young writer's struggles as he tries to surmount the colossal, heavily guarded wall that apparently separates writers who have been published from those who have not. Varying boldly in theme, setting, and tone, the stories in Coup de Foudre share Kalfus' distinctive humor and intellect, inextricably bound with high literary ambition. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Richard Davidson. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/adbl/022221/bk_adbl_022221_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

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  Oliver Twist , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 891min

  Oliver Twist, or The Parish Boy's Progress, is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, and was first published as a serial, 1837 - 39. The story is of the orphan Oliver Twist, who is born in a workhouse, and then sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker. He escapes from there and travels to London, where he meets the Artful Dodger, a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets, led by the elderly criminal, Fagin. Oliver Twist is notable for its unromantic portrayal by Dickens of criminals and their sordid lives, as well as for exposing the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid-19th century. The alternate title, The Parish Boy's Progress, alludes to Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, as well as the 18th-century caricature series by William Hogarth, A Rake's Progress and A Harlot's Progress. In this early example of the social novel, Dickens satirizes the hypocrisies of his time, including child labor, the recruitment of children as criminals, and the presence of street children. The novel may have been inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of working as a child laborer in a cotton mill, was widely read in the 1830s. It is likely that Dickens's own youthful experiences contributed as well. Oliver Twist has been the subject of numerous adaptations for various media, including a highly successful musical play, Oliver!, and the multiple Academy Award-winning 1968 motion picture. Disney also put its spin on the novel with the movie called, Oliver & Company, in 1988. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Tadhg Hynes. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/093092/bk_acx0_093092_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

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  The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty, Hörbuch, Digital, 602min

  An important polemic on wealth, power, and class in America, The Family is rich in texture, probing in its psychological insight, revealing in its political and financial detail, and stunning in the patterns that emerge and expose the Bush dynasty as it has never before been exposed. Ms. Kelley takes us back to the origins of the family fortune in the Ohio steel industry at the turn of the last century, through the oil deals and international business associations that have maintained and increased their wealth over the past hundred years. The book leads us through Prescott Bush's first entrée into government at the state level in 1950s Connecticut, to George Herbert Walker Bush's long and winding road to the White House, to his son's quick sweep into the same office. Along the way, we see the complex relationships the Bushes have had with the giants of the century, Eisenhower, Nixon, Joseph McCarthy, Kissinger, Reagan, and Clinton, as well as the often ruthless methods used to realize their goals. Perhaps most impressive, and surprising, is the way the book delves behind the obsessively protected public image into the family's intimate private lives: the matriarchs, the mistresses, the marriages, the divorces, the jealousies, the hypocrisies, the golden children, and the black sheep. At a crucial point in American history, Kitty Kelley is the one person to finally tell all about the family that has, perhaps more than any other, defined our role in the modern world. This is the book the Bushes don't want you to read. This is The Family. Language: English. Narrator: Kitty Kelley. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/rand/000473/bk_rand_000473_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

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  And Never Stop Dancing: 30 More True Things You Need to Know Now , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 228min

  Dr. Gordon Livingston's national best seller, Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart, has drawn tens of thousands of readers who have embraced its 30 bedrock truths about life and how best to live it. Now, in And Never Stop Dancing, Dr. Livingston, a Vietnam War veteran, psychiatrist, and parent twice bereaved, offers 30 more true things we need to know now. Among the fresh truths Dr. Livingston identifies and explores are: Paradox governs our lives. Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves. Marriage ruins a lot of good relationships. We are defined by what we fear. We all live downstream. One of life's most difficult tasks is to see ourselves as others see us. As we grow old, the beauty steals inward. Most people die with their music still inside of them. Once again, here are Dr. Livingston's sterling qualities: a deep understanding of the emotional tumult that courses through our lives, our hidden hypocrisies, desires, and evasions; an unerring sense of what is important (he does not waste a single moment writing about unimportant things); and his own ability to persevere, to hope, in a world he knows to be capable of inflicting unjustifiable and lifelong suffering. These qualities, plus his perfectly pitched sense of humor and a voice that has been described as "more Job than Dr. Phil" (The Washington Post), add up to another extraordinary book, one which, like its predecessor, offers us a gentle, generous, and unusual alternative to the trial-and-error learning that makes wisdom such an expensive commodity. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Bruce Barker. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/live/000174/bk_live_000174_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

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  The Best Worst President: What the Right Gets Wrong About Barack Obama , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 476min

  Political analyst and Democratic campaign veteran Mark Hannah gives Barack Obama the victory lap he deserves in this compendium that takes the president's critics head-on and celebrates the president's many underappreciated triumphs. Barack Obama's election in 2008 was a watershed moment in American history that inspired supporters on the Left - and fired up enemies on the Right. Elected in the midst of multiple crises - a Wall Street meltdown that imperiled the global economy and American troops entangled in two foreign wars - Barack Obama's presidency promised from the start to be one of the most consequential presidencies in modern American history. Although he stabilized the economy and restored America's prestige on the global stage, President Obama has been denied the credit he deserves, receiving instead acidic commentary from political opponents such as former vice president Dick Cheney, who declared that Obama was "the worst president in [his] lifetime" - an accusation that reflects the politics of resentment and recrimination that has come to characterize the president's critics. In The Best Worst President, Mark Hannah swiftly and systematically debunks conservative lies and disinformation meant to negate the president's accomplishments and damage his reputation - baseless charges too often left unchallenged by the national media. The Best Worst President is a whip-smart takedown of these half truths and hypocrisies, each refuted in a smart, witty, fact-based style. Hannah not only defends the president but showcase his administration's most surprising and underappreciated triumphs - making clear he truly is the best "worst president" our nation has ever known. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Kaleo Griffith. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/harp/005377/bk_harp_005377_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

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  Dinosaur Derivatives and Other Trades , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 516min

  Venture deep into the heart of finance's weird and wonderful paradoxes. Dinosaur Derivatives and Other Trades is an entertaining and compelling tour de force highlighting the paradoxes inherent to the modern financial system. Presented as a series of striking case studies, this book explores certain enigmatic or philosophical puzzles in the finance industry; some of these puzzles may seem slightly absurd at first glance, but all are very relevant to the way finance is conducted in the real world. Each story highlights specific hypocrisies or moral dilemmas that lie at the heart of the system, guiding listeners through the challenges of finance by way of innovative and memorable paradigms. Written in clear, accessible language, this book doesn't claim to offer original financial theory or philosophy as such, but instead deepens the listener's understanding of the system and stimulates independent consideration of the current state of affairs. The financial world, so often viewed as a rather dull place, is secretly alive with possibilities of strange and sometimes wonderful conundrums. There is the possibility, for instance, of a Manhattan auction house selling derivatives to buy swift-swimming predators known as Megalodons (thought to be extinct for millions of years). This book explores this and other curious propositions to point out the paradoxes of finance. Explore the meaning of "value" in different contexts Learn what the Old Testament can teach us about risk and uncertainty Examine an alternative take on the 2007/2008 credit crisis Consider how the "financial innovation" trend impacts the industry To truly understand something, it is necessary to crawl deep into the metaphorical underbelly and have a look around. Dinosaur Derivatives and Other Trades provides the itinerary, and the insightful discussion that stimulates curiosity. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Cameron Stewart. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/adbl/027770/bk_adbl_027770_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

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  Shame: How America's Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 287min

  A prominent conservative scholar traces the post-1960s divisions between the Right and the Left, taking aim at liberals' victimization of African Americans and their failure to offer a viable way forward for American society. The United States today is hopelessly polarized; the political Right and Left have hardened into rigid and deeply antagonistic camps, preventing any sort of progress. Amid the bickering and inertia, the promise of the 1960s--when we came together as a nation to fight for equality and universal justice--remains unfulfilled. As Shelby Steele reveals in Shame, the roots of this impasse can be traced back to that decade of protest, when in the act of uncovering and dismantling our national hypocrisies--racism, sexism, militarism--liberals internalized the idea that there was something inauthentic, if not evil, in the American character. Since then, liberalism has been wholly concerned with redeeming modern America from the sins of the past and has derived its political legitimacy from the premise of a morally bankrupt America. The result has been a half century of well-intentioned but ineffective social programs, such as Affirmative Action. Steele reveals that not only have these programs failed, but they have in almost every case actively harmed America's minorities and poor. Ultimately, Steele argues, post-'60s liberalism has utterly failed to achieve its stated aim: true equality. Liberals, intending to atone for our past sins, have ironically perpetuated the exploitation of this country's least fortunate citizens. It therefore falls to the Right to defend the American dream. Only by reviving our founding principles of individual freedom and merit-based competition can the fraught legacy of American history be redeemed, and only through freedom can we ever hope to reach equality. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Randall Bain. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/brll/006791/bk_brll_006791_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

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  The Joy of Hate: How to Triumph over Whiners in the Age of Phony Outrage , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 430min

  From the irreverent star of Fox News’s Red Eye and The Five, hilarious observations on the manufactured outrage of an oversensitive, wussified culture. Greg Gutfeld hates artificial tolerance. At the root of every single major political conflict is the annoying coddling Americans must endure of these harebrained liberal hypocrisies. In fact, most of the time liberals use the mantle of tolerance as a guise for their pathetic intolerance. And what we really need is smart intolerance, or as Gutfeld reminds us, what we used to call common sense. The Joy of Hate tackles this conundrum head on- - replacing the idiocy of open-mindness with a shrewd judgmentalism that rejects stupid ideas, notions, and people. With countless examples grabbed from the headlines, Gutfeld provides readers with the enormous tally of what pisses us all off. For example:The double standard: You can make fun of Christians, but God forbid Muslims. It's okay to call a woman any name imaginable, as long as she's a Republican. And no problem if you're a bigot, as long as you're politically correct about it.The demonizing of the Tea Party and romanticizing of the Occupy Wall Streeters.The media who are always offended (see MSNBC lineup)How critics of Obamacare or illegal immigration are somehow immediately labeled racists.The endless debate over the Ground Zero Mosque (which Gutfeld planned to open a Muslim gay bar next to).As well as pretentious music criticism, slow-moving ceiling fans, and snotty restaurant hostesses.Funny and sarcastic to the point of being mean (but in a nice way), The Joy of Hate points out the true jerks in this society and tells them all off. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Steve Kramer. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/rand/003344/bk_rand_003344_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

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  Above the Fray, Hörbuch, Digital, 51min, (USK 18)

  Paul Conyers is a tall drink of funny. He proves it time and time again in his debut album Above the Fray. At his core, Conyers is an incisive, charismatic everyman. He has an easy-going wit and casual gall. His insightful social commentary, his reach and range, is impressive. His laid back - often daring - style, is dynamic and exciting. Above the Fray is well-crafted and self-aggrandizing, audaciously charming with dry, false bravado. Conyers elevates while remaining down to earth. Above the Fray is head and shoulders above the norm. "Punching down", joking at a marginalized group's expense, is hard to pull off. But it's hard not to punch down when you're 6'7" like Paul Conyers. Conyers's primary target: short people. And, by Conyers's definition, that's anyone under "NBA player height." If you're shorter than LeBron James, prepare to get dunked on. Paul Conyers needles anyone average-sized shorter than him, which is basically everyone, and does so with a blustering starkness unseen since Randy Newman. But don't worry. It's all in good fun. Above the Fray is highly entertaining, regardless of your stature. This puts Conyers at odds with Napoleon-complex catfishers, obnoxious strangers with basketball career advice, and any number of people that embody the undercurrent of nonsense height influences. The ways being tall (or short) matters, especially regarding assumptions and hypocrisies, border on absurdity. It's a mess, a fight, ripe fodder for hilarity. And Paul Conyers isn't afraid to throw playful jabs. While crossing every line imaginable, fearlessly sarcastic about every group and subject, Paul Conyers maintains an incredible level of balance. He's confident, not cocky. He's bombastic, not smug. He's cool but self aware. He's smart but not alienating. His jokes - boastful, brilliant and boundless - present a level playing field. Height doesn't matter when you're on stage or laughing in the audience. An Language: English. Narrator: Paul Conyers. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/pf/roar/000698/pf_roar_000698_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

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  The Age of Louis XIV: The Story of Civilization, Book 8 , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 2188min

  The Age of Louis XIV is the biography of a period (1648 - 1715) that Spengler considered the apex of modern European civilization. "Some centuries hence," Frederick the Great correctly predicted to Voltaire, "they will translate the good authors of the age of Pericles and Augustus." Those authors are lovingly treated here: Pascal, Racine, and Boileau, Madame de Sévigné, Madame de la Fayette, and above all the philosopher-dramatist Molière, who so memorably exposed the vices and hypocrisies of the age. Central to the audiobook is the "Sun King" himself, Louis XIV. Louis XIV ruled France for over seventy years, longer than almost any European ruler in history. He is the subject of a character study that runs through seven chapters, revealing the flesh and blood beneath the purple and the crown. He is seen at his worst in his struggle with Jansenists and Huguenots, at his best in his patronage of literature and art, and at his most human in his love affairs with Henrietta Anne of Orléans, Louise de La Vallière, Madame de Montespan, and Madame de Maintenon. From France the narrative passes to the Netherlands, and after pausing to examine the domestic idylls of Vermeer, shows the Dutch opening their dikes to save their land from Louis XIV and sending William of Orange to become king of England and a leader of the European alliance against Louis' hegemony. In England, we contemplate the heyday of virtue under the Puritans and study the strange character of Cromwell. We see Milton's passionate career as part of the vain effort to prevent the Stuart Restoration. We find Charles II, the "Merry Monarch", with more manners than morals, attend boisterous Restoration plays; we skim the diaries of Evelyn and Pepys; and we follow Jonathan Swift from genius to insanity. Crossing the North Sea, we trace the tragic heroism of Charles XII of Sweden and the attempt of Peter the Great to lead Russia from barbarism to civilization. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Stefan Rudnicki. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/blak/007459/bk_blak_007459_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

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