The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

A natural storyteller and raconteur in his own right - just listen to Paddle Your Own Canoe and Gumption - actor, comedian, carpenter, and all-around manly man Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) brings his distinctive baritone and a fine-tuned comic versatility to Twain's writing.  In a knockout performance, he doesn't so much as read Twain's words as he does rejoice in them, delighting in the hijinks of Tom - whom he lovingly refers to as a "great scam artist" and "true American hero". 

Gulliver's Travels

Lemuel Gulliver, a slightly staid ship's doctor, relates the tales of his astonishing travels.  He encounters the tiny, warring Lilliputians; the giant, sceptical Brobdingnagians; the ludicrously intellectual Laputans; and the idealistic - if rather stolid - Houyhnhnms and their bestial servants, the Yahoos.  An immediate best-seller when it was first published in 1726, Gulliver's Travels has remained a favourite ever since.  It was an attack on the politics and society of Swift's day, but it is also a polemical, inventive, surreal, vitriolic and wonderfully imaginative masterpiece....

David Copperfield [Audible]

Between his work on the 2014 Audible Audiobook of the Year, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel, and his performance of Classic Love Poems, narrator Richard Armitage (The Hobbit, Hannibal) has quickly become a listener favorite.  Now, in this defining performance of Charles Dickens' classic David Copperfield, Armitage lends his unique voice and interpretation, truly inhabiting each character and bringing real energy to the life of one of Dickens' most famous characters. 

A Tale of Two Cities

'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'; so the recording begins and ends with some of Dickens's best-known words, and between those lines is every Briton's view of the worst excesses of the French Revolution.  Set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution, the audiobook tells the story of a French doctor who is imprisoned for 18 years in the Bastille in Paris.  Upon his release, he moves to London with his daughter, Lucie, whom he had never met. 

The Grapes of Wrath

Shocking and controversial when it was first published, Steinbeck's Pulitzer prize-winning epic remains his undisputed masterpiece.  Set against the background of Dust Bowl Oklahoma and Californian migrant life, it tells of the Joad family, who, like thousands of others, are forced to travel west in search of the promised land. 

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic American novel of the Roaring Twenties is beloved by generations of readers and stands as his crowning work.  This new audio edition, authorized by the Fitzgerald estate, is narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain).  Gyllenhaal's performance is a faithful delivery in the voice of Nick Carraway, the Midwesterner turned New York bond salesman, who rents a small house next door to the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby.  There, he has a firsthand view of Gatsby's lavish West Egg parties - and of his undying love....

Anne of Green Gables

With all of the pluck and charm of its eponymous young hero, Rachel McAdams (The Notebook, Spotlight, Midnight in Paris) delivers a spectacular reading of Montgomery's beloved bildungsroman.  In moments both funny and bittersweet, McAdams' voice is imbued with the spark that has made Anne a much-loved symbol of individualism and cheer for over a century. 

Oliver Twist

A workhouse orphan, Oliver experiences the terror and brutality of the criminal underworld.  His companions, a thief, a whore, a pickpocket, and a fence, are destined for gruesome ends, but Oliver emerges unscathed from the darkness of the underworld. 

The Count of Monte Cristo

On the eve of his marriage to the beautiful Mercedes, having that very day been made captain of his ship, the young sailor Edmond Dantès is arrested on a charge of treason, trumped up by jealous rivals.  Incarcerated for many lonely years in the isolated and terrifying Chateau d'If near Marseille, he meticulously plans his brilliant escape and extraordinary revenge. 

The Scarlet Letter

One of the most important novels in classic literature, Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter tackles the subject of adultery, with the notorious Hester Prynne at the forefront of the scandal in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  In the beginning of the novel, Hester is serving time in prison for having a child out of wedlock and is forced to wear a scarlet A on her clothing at all times, so she cannot run from her sin no matter where she goes. 

The Trial [Naxos AudioBooks]

The Trial is one of the great works of the 20th century - an extraordinary vision of one man put on trial by an anonymous authority on an unspecified charge.  Kafka evokes all the terrifying reality of his ordeal. 

Audible Editor Reviews

There are few authors who are a must to complete one's personal library, but the great Mark Twain is certainly one of them.  And this production of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is proof enough why Twain has never fallen out of fashion.  Accomplished narrator William Dufris gives a hilarious and convincing performance, handling the vernacular of Twain's text and the hijinks of Huck Finn with an easy comfort.  Whether Twain is an old favorite, or you're discovering him for the first time, there is much to enjoy in this trip down the Mississippi River. 

Publisher's Summary

Huckleberry Finn, rebel against school and church, casual inheritor of gold treasure, rafter of the Mississippi, and savior of Jim the runaway slave, is the archetypal American maverick. 

Fleeing the respectable society that wants to "sivilize" him, Huck Finn shoves off with Jim on a rhapsodic raft journey down the Mississippi River.  The two bind themselves to one another, becoming intimate friends and agreeing "there warn't no home like a raft, after all.  Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't.  You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft". 

As Huck learns about love, responsibility, and morality, the trip becomes a metaphoric voyage through his own soul, culminating in the glorious moment when he decides to "go to hell" rather than return Jim to slavery. 

Mark Twain defined classic as "a book which people praise and don't read"; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a happy exception to his own rule.  Twain's mastery of dialect, coupled with his famous wit, has made Huckleberry Finn one of the most loved and distinctly American classics ever written. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio. 

Public Domain (P)2008 Tantor

What the Critics Say

"The moral of the book, though it is not scrawled across every page, teaches the necessity of manliness and self-sacrifice." ( The Atlanta Constitution)"The story is so interesting, so full of life and dramatic force, that the reader will be carried along irresistibly, and the time he loses in laughing he will make up in diligence to hurry along and find out how things come out." ( The Hartford Courant)

William Dufris does a fantastic job of performing this classic tale by Mark Twain.  I bought it for the purpose of enhancing my daughter's enjoyment of the story.  The book was required reading for her AP English class.  Dufris's skilled storytelling ability and wonderful character voices completely bring the story alive in a way that my daughter would never have been able to experience had she just read the story to herself.  She and her friend read along whilst listening, making notes in the margin and absorbing every word.  It was thoroughly enjoyed by all of us. 

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Sher from Provo

Utah

18/07/10

Overall

Performance

Story

"A true classic"

Such a fun story.  I have loved listening to it this time 'round.  This is something I can share with my grandchildren.  William Dufris is an excellent narrator. 

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Elisa

Congers, NY, USA

03/06/09

Overall

"Wonderful"

Hard to say what I liked best about this book.  The story is great, the writing is fantastic, the reader excellent.  I recommend enthusiastically! 

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Yuri

Cambridge, MA, USA

27/12/08

Overall

"The best!" 

as good as it gets--both the book and the narration.  highly recommended. 

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Rick

Seattle

13/12/08

Overall

Performance

Story

"WOW!" 

What a tour de force!  I am on my SECOND listening to this marvelous rendition of an American classic.  Dufris is a wonder.  One could almost swear that this a multi-voiced production.  From the exuberant and generous-spirited Huck to the noble and wise Jim to that dastardly and incorrigible duo, the duke and the dauphin, a world of colorful and entertaining characters is created by a most gifted narrator. 

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Deuce

Hudson, FL, United States

28/05/12

Overall

Performance

Story

"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - EXCELLENT"

Would you listen to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn again?  Why? 

I have and will listen again to this audio rendition of Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  William Dufris perfectly reads the story to the point you believe you are there.  The accents are thoroughly enjoying.  To the point I found myself chuckling repeatedly.  It was as if Huck himself was telling the story.  Which in the book he is. 

What did you like best about this story? 

The story is a classic.  The evolution of a young boy who was an outcast from accepting slavery to helping Jim escape to freedom even if it did mean he was going to hell! 

What about William Dufris’s performance did you like? 

William Dufris perfectly reads the story to the point you believe you are there.  The accents are thoroughly enjoying.  To the point I found myself chuckling repeatedly.  It was as if Huck himself was telling the story.  Which in the book he is. 

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book?  Did it make you laugh or cry? 

I found myself laughing repeatedly.  I also found myself angered anyone would consider it racist.  Simply because of the use of the N-word.  The fact I must use n-word is because otherwise this review might be denied.  Which itself is foolishness.  The use of the n-word magnifies the very horror of slavery and most importantly was the way people spoke in those times.  Each time it was used my reaction was extreme and so propelled the story ...which is the search of freedom by a slave and an abused and neglected boy. 

Any additional comments? 

Will have this book read to me on a regular basis.  A true classic ...both the book and the reading.  BTW: I also have William Dufris' reading of the Adventures of Tom Sawyer. 

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Georgia

Rollinsville, Colorado, United States

18/02/11

Overall

"Go, Huck and Jim!" 

A good novel is a place to go in the way that only Old Time Radio has ever achieved, a Theatre of the Mind.  That Mark Twain and William Dufris can transport us to the strange, lost world of the 18th century Mississippi River and its environs is a remarkable achievement not to be missed, a piece of Americana that grounds us firmly in our country. 

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Amsterdam

10/12/10

Overall

"Hemingway said this was America's greatest novel"

If you never read it before, well worth the listen.  Especially the excellent narration of William Dufris.  Twain's masterpiece, and although some might say dated, and others cry racist (the common use of the "N" word) , in this listener's viewpoint it is still brilliant.  The first person narrative by Huck Finn brings the reader (or listener) to know a character still unique in literary history. 
Yes its over a hundred years old, but it will make you feel younger as you go through it. 

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Jacqueline Shealy

21/10/10

Overall

"mazing narrator"

the guy who reads this book makes it!  awesome read this book as a kid but it really came to life when I listened to it.  I have listen to probably 4 times.  William Dufris aweosme!!! 

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

V?ctor

Escaz?Costa Rica

16/11/09

Overall

"Great audiobook"

I had to read this book for high school and I was really bored when simply reading.  But when I bought this and followed the reading while listening it got much more interesting.  Great narrator too. 

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Report Inappropriate Content

If you find this review inappropriate and think it should be removed from our site, let us know.  This report will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.