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A Special Providence
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman, Suzanne Toren
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
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A Special Providence
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Editorial reviews
Richard Yates’s 1969 novel A Special Providence gets a contemporary update in this version, part of Audible’s Modern Vanguard Series, with narration by Suzanne Toren and Jeff Woodman. Yates, who may be best known for his first novel, Revolutionary Road, and the Leo-and-Kate film version it spawned, looks at a very different kind of male-female relationship in Providence: here, he highlights the connection between a mother and son before, during, and after WWII.
The mother is Alice Prentice, a single parent and aspiring artist who believes the world holds more for her than financial struggles and unreliable men; her son, Robert, is a solider struggling to survive the fighting in Europe. As the story shifts back and forth between the characters and to and from different times in their lives, Woodman anchors the story with an understated narration that’s rich and emotional. From Robert’s facing the front lines of battle to his navigating a conflict with the other enlisted men, Woodman brings a realistic mix of ambition, fear, and youth to the character. Toren chimes in on the women’s voices — primarily Alice, but also her friends and her sister — and brings the right mix of real confidence and false bravado to luckless Alice, whether she’s trying to start her own art school or convince herself that Robert will come home.
Much of A Special Providence is reportedly based on Yates’ own life — Robert’s war time mimics Yates’ service, and Alice Prentice is said to be a thinly-disguised take on Yates’ own mother, Ruth — and the sincere narration combined with Yates’ honest prose makes this an essential listen for fans of the author. —Blythe Copeland
Publisher's summary
Robert Prentice has spent all his life attempting to escape his mother's stifling presence. His mother, Alice, for her part, struggles with her own demons as she attempts to realize her dreams of prosperity and success as a sculptor.
As Robert goes off to fight in Europe, hoping to become his own man, Richard Yates portrays a soldier in the depths of war striving to live up to his heroic ideals. With haunting clarity, Yates crafts an unforgettable portrait of two people who cannot help but hope for more, even as life challenges them both.
As an added bonus, when you purchase our Audible Modern Vanguard production of Richard Yates' book, you'll also receive an exclusive Jim Atlas interview. This interview – where James Atlas interviews Blake Bailey about the life and work of Richard Yates – begins as soon as the audiobook ends.
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The Runner
- By: Christopher Reich
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 74
American lawyer and former police detective Judge Devlin is in Europe sifting through evidence of Nazi atrocities. He is part of the International Military Tribunal, but his agenda is personal. He hopes to convict SS member and former Olympic sprinter Eric Seyss, the man responsible for his military chaplain brother’s death. When Judge learns Eric has just escaped from an American POW camp, the American sets off in a desperate race for vengeance.
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4 out of 5 stars
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this story just went on and on and on
- By Stevie on 09-07-12
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The Atomic City Girls
- A Novel
- By: Janet Beard
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 472
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 416
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Story4 out of 5 stars 418
In November 1944, 18-year-old June Walker boards an unmarked bus, destined for a city that doesn't officially exist. Oak Ridge, Tennessee has sprung up in a matter of months - a town of trailers and segregated houses, 24-hour cafeterias, and constant security checks. There, June joins hundreds of other young girls operating massive machines whose purpose is never explained. They know they are helping to win the war, but must ask no questions and reveal nothing to outsiders.
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1 out of 5 stars
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disappointing
- By Justinmud on 07-07-18
By: Janet Beard
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The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell
- An Accidental Soldier's Account of the War in Iraq
- By: John Crawford
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 339
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 156
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 158
John Crawford joined the Florida National Guard to pay for his college tuition; it had seemed a small sacrifice to give up one weekend a month and two weeks a year in exchange for a free education. But one semester short of graduating, and newly married, he was called to active duty, to serve in Kuwait, then on the front lines of the invasion of Iraq, and ultimately in Baghdad. While serving in Iraq, Crawford began writing short nonfiction stories, his account of what he and his fellow soldiers experienced.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An honest, real account of the Iraq War
- By Michael J. Mountain on 09-07-05
By: John Crawford
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Koko
- Blue Rose Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Peter Straub
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 22 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 355
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 321
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Story4 out of 5 stars 324
KOKO. Only four men knew what it meant. Now they must stop it. They are Vietnam vets — a doctor, a lawyer, a working stiff, and a writer. Very different from each other, they are nonetheless linked by a shared history and a single shattering secret. Now, they have been reunited and are about to embark on a quest that will take them from Washington, D.C., to the graveyards and fleshpots of the Far East to the human jungle of New York.
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2 out of 5 stars
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7 hours in and I am done
- By bionichands on 01-26-12
By: Peter Straub
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Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules (Unabridged Selections)
- By: Edited by David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris, Mary-Louise Parker, Cherry Jones
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 357
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 215
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Story4 out of 5 stars 216
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories, some classic, others impending, selected and introduced by David Sedaris.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great stories but only 5 of 17 are included
- By Terri Kirk on 07-13-12
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This Side of the Sky
- By: Elyse Singleton
- Narrated by: Myra Taylor, Sharon Washington, Richard Ferrone
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Award-winning journalist Elyse Singleton delivers what Essence calls “a gem - the perfect book to curl up with.”
Best friends Lilian and Myraleen, two African American women from rural Mississippi, travel to Europe during World War II to act as members of the Women’s Army Corps. During this time of segregation and destruction, both women discover love and heartbreak, triumph and defeat.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Breath of Fresh Air
- By Adina Andreu on 07-19-12
By: Elyse Singleton
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Disturbing the Peace
- By: Richard Yates
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 66
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 56
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Story4 out of 5 stars 57
To all appearances, John Wilder has all the trappings of success, circa 1960: a promising career in advertising, a loving family, a beautiful apartment, even a country home. John's evenings are spent with associates at quiet Manhattan lounges and his weekends with friends at glittering cocktail parties. But something deep within this seemingly perfect life has long since gone wrong.
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5 out of 5 stars
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7 hours and 27 minutes pure blisd
- By Mia on 01-05-13
By: Richard Yates
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Now and in the Hour of Our Death
- By: Patrick Taylor
- Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
Patrick Taylor’s first novel of the Irish Troubles, Pray for Us Sinners, introduced us to Provisional IRA bombmaker Davy MacCutcheon and the love of his life, Fiona Kavanagh. Davy planned to leave the Provos after one final mission. But the deadly mission backfired, and Davy ended up in prison. Six years later, in Now and in the Hour of Our Death, Fiona Kavanagh has found sanctuary in Vancouver, Canada. But news of a breakout at the Maze prison brings back memories she thought she’d left behind.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Perfect End of a Great Epic
- By J. Lindsey on 03-01-15
By: Patrick Taylor
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The Quiet American
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Joseph Porter
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,090
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 916
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 911
Alden Pyle, an idealistic young American, is sent to Vietnam to promote democracy amidst the intrigue and violence of the French war with the Vietminh, while his friend, Fowler, a cynical foreign correspondent, looks on.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Terrible narrator nearly derails Greene novel.
- By Richard on 07-12-12
By: Graham Greene
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Midnight Cowboy
- By: James Leo Herlihy
- Narrated by: Michael Urie
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 118
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 104
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 105
Midnight Cowboy is considered by many to be one of the best American novels published since World War II. The main story centers around Joe Buck, a naive but eager and ambitious young Texan, who decides to leave his dead-end job in search of a grand and glamorous life he believes he will find in New York City. But the city turns out to be a much more difficult place to negotiate than Joe could ever have imagined. He soon finds himself and his dreams compromised. Buck's fall from innocence and his relationship with the crippled street hustler Ratso Rizzo form the novel's emotional nucleus.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Superb
- By Macala Shon on 01-26-21
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The Stand
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 47 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 75,826
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 67,705
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67,578
This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death. And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides - or are chosen.
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5 out of 5 stars
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My First Completed Stephen King Novel
- By Meaghan Bynum on 02-20-12
By: Stephen King
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Presumed Innocent
- By: Scott Turow
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 15 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,955
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,201
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,198
Presumed Innocent brings to life our worst nightmare: that of an ordinary citizen facing conviction for the most terrible of crimes. Prosecutor Rusty Sabich is transformed from accuser to accused when he is handed an explosive case - that of the brutal murder of a woman who happens to be his former lover.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent Book, Gripping Entertainment!
- By Glen on 04-16-10
By: Scott Turow
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The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
- By: Sloan Wilson
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 86
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 87
Here is the story of Tom and Betsy Rath, a young couple with everything going for them: three healthy children, a nice home, a steady income. They have every reason to be happy, but for some reason they are not. Like so many young men of the day, Tom finds himself caught up in the corporate rat race - what he encounters there propels him on a voyage of self-discovery that will turn his world inside out.
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5 out of 5 stars
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great read/listen
- By BBJ on 09-26-16
By: Sloan Wilson
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Player Piano
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,253
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,022
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,030
Kurt Vonnegut's first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a supercomputer and run completely by machines. Paul's rebellion is vintage Vonnegut – wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Genuine 5-Stars
- By R.A. on 06-07-19
By: Kurt Vonnegut
What listeners say about A Special Providence
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Barbara or Jerold Gendler
- 11-30-22
Dark
Brilliantly written & narrated & a must read for this pre war , 2nd world war , post experience that is easily forgotten . The characters r well developed although not loved to emulate . Yates is not a happy camper but u must read on to some conclusion .
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