Audiobooks by Adam Johnson

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his acclaimed novel about North Korea, The Orphan Masters Son, Adam Johnson is one of Americas most provocative and powerful authors. Critics have compared him to Kurt Vonnegut, David Mitchell, and George Saunders, but Johnsons new book will only further his reputation as one of our most original writers. Subtly surreal, darkly comic, both hilarious and heartbreaking, Fortune Smiles is a major collection of stories that gives voice to the perspectives we dont often hear, while offering something rare in fiction: a new way of looking at the world. In six masterly stories, Johnson delves deep into love and loss, natural disasters, the influence of technology, and how the political shapes the personal. "Nirvana," which won the prestigious Sunday Times short story prize, portrays a programmer whose wife has a rare disease finding solace in a digital simulacrum of the president of the United States. In "Hurricanes Anonymous" - first included in the Best American Short Stories anthology - a young man searches for the mother of his son in a Louisiana devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. "George Orwell Was a Friend of Mine" follows a former warden of a Stasi prison in East Germany who vehemently denies his past, even as pieces of it are delivered in packages to his door. And in the unforgettable title story, Johnson returns to his signature subject, North Korea, depicting two defectors from Pyongyang who are trying to adapt to their new lives in Seoul, while one cannot forget the woman he left behind. Unnerving, riveting, and written with a timeless quality, these stories confirm Johnson as one of Americas greatest writers and an indispensable guide to our new century. Readers: "Nirvana" read by Johnathan McClain "Hurricanes Anonymous" read by Dominic Hoffman "Interesting Facts" read by Cassandra Campbell "George Orwell Was a Friend of Mine" read by W. Morgan Sheppard "Dark Meadow" read by Will Damron "Fortune Smiles" read by Greg Chun Advance praise for Fortune Smiles"How do you follow a Pulitzer Prize - winning novel? For Johnson, the answer is a story collection, and the tales are hefty and memorable. . . . In the title story, two North Korean criminals adjust to post-defection life in South Korea. . . . Often funny, even when theyre wrenchingly sad, the stories provide one of the truest satisfactions of reading: the opportunity to sink into worlds we otherwise would know little or nothing about." - Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A half-dozen sometimes Carver-esque yarns that find more-or-less ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges and somehow holding up. Tragedy is always close to the surface in Johnsons work - with tragicomic layerings. . . . Bittersweet, elegant, full of hard-won wisdom: this is no ordinary book, either." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Praise for Adam Johnsons Pulitzer Prize - winning novel, The Orphan Masters Son"Harrowing and deeply affecting . . . a daring and remarkable novel, a novel that not only opens a frightening window on the mysterious kingdom of North Korea, but one that also excavates the very meaning of love and sacrifice." - Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times"Remarkable . . . the single best work of fiction published [this year]." - The Wall Street Journal"A great novel can take implausible fact and turn it into entirely believable fiction. Thats the genius of The Orphan Masters Son." - The Washington Post"An epic feat of storytelling." - Zadie Smith"A triumph of imagination . . . [Grade:] A." - Entertainment Weekly

Adam Johnson (Author), , Cassandra Campbell, Johnathan Mcclain, Various Narrators, W. Morgan Sheppard (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Orphan Master's Son

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE An epic novel and a thrilling literary discovery, The Orphan Masters Son follows a young mans journey through the icy waters, dark tunnels, and eerie spy chambers of the worlds most mysterious dictatorship, North Korea. NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST - DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE WINNER - LONGLISTED FOR THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL - WINNER OF THE CALIFORNIA BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION - NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New Yorker - The Washington Post - Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly - The Wall Street Journal - Los Angeles Times - San Francisco Chronicle - Financial Times - Newsweek/The Daily Beast - The Plain Dealer - St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Scott Turow, The Millions - Slate - Salon - BookPage - Shelf Awareness "The single best work of fiction published [this year] . . . The books cunning, flair and pathos are testaments to the still-formidable power of the written word." - The Wall Street Journal Pak Jun Do is the haunted son of a lost mother - a singer "stolen" to Pyongyang - and an influential father who runs Long Tomorrows, a work camp for orphans. There the boy is given his first taste of power, picking which orphans eat first and which will be lent out for manual labor. Recognized for his loyalty and keen instincts, Jun Do comes to the attention of superiors in the state, rises in the ranks, and starts on a road from which there will be no return. Considering himself "a humble citizen of the greatest nation in the world," Jun Do becomes a professional kidnapper who must navigate the shifting rules, arbitrary violence, and baffling demands of his Korean overlords in order to stay alive. Driven to the absolute limit of what any human being could endure, he boldly takes on the treacherous role of rival to Kim Jong Il in an attempt to save the woman he loves, Sun Moon, a legendary actress "so pure, she didnt know what starving people looked like." Part breathless thriller, part story of innocence lost, part story of romantic love, The Orphan Masters Son is also a riveting portrait of a world heretofore hidden from view: a North Korea rife with hunger, corruption, and casual cruelty but also camaraderie, stolen moments of beauty, and love. A towering literary achievement, The Orphan Masters Son ushers Adam Johnson into the small group of todays greatest writers. Praise for The Orphan Masters Son "An exquisitely crafted novel that carries the reader on an adventuresome journey into the depths of totalitarian North Korea and into the most intimate spaces of the human heart." - Pulitzer Prize citation "Mr. Johnson has written a daring and remarkable novel, a novel that not only opens a frightening window on the mysterious kingdom of North Korea, but one that also excavates the very meaning of love and sacrifice." - Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times "Rich with a sense of discovery . . . The Orphan Masters Son has an early lead on novel of [the year]." - The Daily Beast "This is a novel worth getting excited about." - The Washington Post "[A] ripping piece of fiction that is also an astute commentary on the nature of freedom, sacrifice, and glory." - ElleFrom the Hardcover edition.

Adam Johnson (Author), Adam Johnson, James Kyson Lee, Josiah D. Lee, Tim Kang (Narrator)

Audiobook