• The Opposite of Loneliness

  • Essays and Stories
  • By: Marina Keegan
  • Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
  • Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (707 ratings)

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The Opposite of Loneliness  By  cover art

The Opposite of Loneliness

By: Marina Keegan
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
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Publisher's summary

Marina Keegan's star was on the rise when she graduated magna cum laude from Yale in May 2012. She had a play that was to be produced at the New York International Fringe Festival and a job waiting for her at the New Yorker. Tragically, five days after graduation, Marina died in a car crash.

As her family, friends, and classmates, deep in grief, joined to create a memorial service for Marina, her unforgettable last essay for the Yale Daily News, "The Opposite of Loneliness", went viral, receiving more than 1.4 million hits. She had struck a chord.

Even though she was just 22 when she died, Marina left behind a rich, expansive trove of prose that, like her title essay, captures the hope, uncertainty, and possibility of her generation. The Opposite of Loneliness is an assem­blage of Marina's essays and stories that, like The Last Lecture, articulates the universal struggle that all of us face as we figure out what we aspire to be and how we can harness our talents to make an impact on the world.

©2014 Tracy and Kevin Keegan (P)2014 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Keegan brings self-awareness to the collective insecurity of her peers even as she captures it with a precision that only comes from someone who feels it too. How unfortunate that she will never know the value readers will find in her work." ( Publishers Weekly)

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What listeners say about The Opposite of Loneliness

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Probably buy the book too.

I really liked the essays but I wish there was more or a pause between them. It jumps so fast from chapter to chapter I sometimes didn't realize I was on to a new essay. It also didn't give a lot of time to ponder/digest the previous story.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

good mix of stories and essays

I enjoyed this mix of short stories and essays, especially the essays. The reader learns that the author, Marina Keegan, died tragically shortly after graduating from Yale. With death the theme of both some essays and stories, that fact sadly does give this book more power. Keegan's stories are best when the main characters are 20-somethings like herself. They have an authentic feel, and she is a talented young writer. Her essays are all personal, making them so strong. She drew me into about half her short stories and all of her essays. My children are all 20-somethings, and this book both was enjoyable but also gave me more insight into the world of my kids. I have some criticisms with the audiobook. You start with one essay, followed by all the stories and then all the essays. There is almost no pause between one story and the next. A different voice reading story titles would have helped. Personally, I would have liked to have essays and short stories alternating. While the reader is good, and this was en enjoyable book to hear, it might be even better to read.

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20 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • K
  • 04-10-14

Beautiful stories... narration is a lovely tribute

Some news stories one reads and then simply forgets. But when recent Yale grad Marina Keegan was killed in a car accident on Cape Cod in mid-2012, I found her story unforgettable. From all accounts, she was embarking on her adult life full of promise and with pure joie de vivre. So, when I learned her essays had been published, I was eager to read them. I found her essays as vivid and full of life as Ms. Keegan had been portrayed. And while I found the book interesting and enjoyable, I couldn't help but feel an abiding sadness that this talented woman's life had been cut short at such a young age. I found Emily Woo Zeller's narration to be lovely and spot on... a beautiful tribute to a life lost too soon.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Young Talent Old Soul

Every once in a while a talent comes along which is prematurely taken from us. Marina Keegan is one such talent. Only 22 years old, she had an uncanny ability to capture the spirit of the young and the wisdom of the old. While listening to her stories, I was transported back in time to a point in my life where I was full of hope and optimism while reflecting on the experience and wisdom that has come with living life's adventures. Her story about her Toyota in "Stability in Motion" made me laugh as it brought back memories about my first vehicle - a 1970 Volkswagen Camper.
Emily Zeller does an outstanding job of narration. It is as if Marina herself is reading the stories to me in my car. Couple great narration with great writing and you get one hell of an audio book!
Marina has truly left her mark on this world through her writing. One sad aspect of Marina's untimely death is that we must live in this world without being able to read another word crafted by her.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Lovely, Deep, Provocative

The introduction alone was worth the price of this book. to hear the story of this remarkable young woman was very inspiring. though the age of the author seemed obvious in most of the stories it was still a powerful experience to hear her words. the world truly lost a jem when we lost Marina Keegan

As for the narrator I've never heard a more desirable, warm and intelligent voice. I could listen to her till the cows come home. I hope she has a long and illustrious career has a simple narrator and voice actress. I think the last time I discovered a voice of such quality it was Karen Carpenter. Viva Emily Woo Zeller

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A promising writer lost at a young age

Stories had a high level of verisimilitude. In fact I mistakenly thought that the title story was autobiographical. I imagine that if she had lived she would have found, to some degree, the illusive success so many writers have envisioned.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Overhyped

I bought this book after reading RAVE reviews everywhere. While Marina Keegan's death is tragic and a budding talent was cut short, these stories are not ready for "prime time". The storytelling is solid but reveals a level of immaturity. The author more often than not relies upon BIG dramatic moments -- mostly death and dying -- to infuse drama into her stories. A more seasoned writer can find drama in even the smallest moments. And her essays are all about being in college. I suspect some of them ARE college assignments, like the one about her first car. I swear I also wrote a paper about my first car in my University English Comp class. The author most likely would have blossomed into a fine writer, but I suspect these stories were only published because she died so young.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Listened to it twice.

Can't say why his collection was so captivating I had to listen to it twice. If she has written other things, I hope her survivors publish it all. So real.

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wow

Life through the eyes of a vibrant young woman who knew what she wanted to do and was willing to hone her craft to high standards. So sad that her life was cut short, but she left a legacy that many don't accomplish in a lifetime.

I enjoyed her stories and her outlook and opinions about life. So refreshing to hear the wisdom of youth.

Another reviewer commented that there was no pause between stories and essays. I too found that disappointing. The author's stories ended with a thought that needed some time to savor the moment. if the tape could be redone to put pauses between the stories it would improve the listening experience immensely.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

The Opposite of Loneliness is... Boring

Not every book hooks every reader. I just never was hooked by this one. I won't be revisiting this on my playlist anytime soon.

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3 people found this helpful