United States Audiobooks | Travel

The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi

Bestselling travel writer Richard Grant offers an entertaining and profound look at a city like no other. Natchez, Mississippi, once had more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in America, and its wealth was built on slavery and cotton. Today it has the greatest concentration of antebellum mansions in the South, and a culture full of unexpected contradictions. Prominent white families dress up in hoopskirts and Confederate uniforms for ritual celebrations of the Old South, yet Natchez is also progressive enough to elect a gay black man for mayor with 91% of the vote. Much as John Berendt did for Savannah in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and the hit podcast S-Town did for Woodstock, Alabama, so Richard Grant does for Natchez in The Deepest South of All. With humor and insight, he depicts a strange, eccentric town with an unforgettable cast of characters. There's Buzz Harper, a six-foot-five gay antique dealer famous for swanning around in a mink coat with a uniformed manservant and a very short German bodybuilder. There's Ginger Hyland, "The Lioness," who owns 500 antique eyewash cups and decorates 168 Christmas trees with her jewelry collection. And there's Nellie Jackson, a Cadillac-driving brothel madam who became an FBI informant about the KKK before being burned alive by one of her customers. Interwoven through these stories is the more somber and largely forgotten account of Abd al Rahman Ibrahima, a West African prince who was enslaved in Natchez and became a cause célèbre in the 1820s, eventually gaining his freedom and returning to Africa. Part history and part travelogue, The Deepest South of All offers a gripping portrait of a complex American place, as it struggles to break free from the past and confront the legacy of slavery.

Richard Grant (Author), Matthew Lloyd Davies (Narrator)

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Emigrant aus Leidenschaft

Ein literarischer Reisebericht, der auf Stevensons Erlebnissen auf der Überfahrt in die USA zu seiner erkrankten Geliebten 1879 basiert und erst posthum erschien: Auf dem Auswandererschiff von Schottland nach New York und von dort weiter mit dem Zug via Chicago nach San Francisco beobachtet Stevenson genau und mit viel Sympathie die Leute an Bord und kommt zu dem Schluss, dass die meisten Emigranten in ihrer alten Heimat gescheitert waren und deshalb die lange und beschwerliche Reise nach Amerika auf sich nehmen.

Robert Louis Stevenson (Author), Peter Lohmeyer (Narrator)

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It Happened Like This: A Life in Alaska

In an authentic and honest voice, writer Adrienne Lindholm recounts her move to Alaska as a young woman eager to begin her career in environmental and wildlife studies. She finds herself initially out of her depth among her peers, many of whom are also 'Outsiders,' new to the state, but who seem more experienced, more confident. Eventually she finds her way, immersing herself in the rigors of wilderness adventures and building a community of outdoorsy friends to sustain her. Soon she falls in love with JT and gradually, at times painfully, they build a life together and decide to start a family amidst the wild. Adrienne celebrates the many ways in which Alaska, and her outdoor adventures there, inspired self-discovery, as well as revealing her difficult and intimate journey into motherhood. Her love story encompasses the outline of massive mountains on the horizon, viewed for the first time; a caribou moving through an alder forest; the effort to climb a glaciated peak; and the peace that settles when contemplating a quiet Arctic lake. At times, her love-for JT, but also for nature and life-also feels savage, like when she charges onto a glacier alone, or when she shoots, kills, and skins her first animal.

Adrienne Lindholm (Author), Suzie Althens (Narrator)

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The Poetry of Strangers: What I Learned Traveling America with a Typewriter

It might surprise you who’s a fan of poetry — when it meets them where they are. Before he became an award-winning writer and poet, Brian Sonia-Wallace set up a typewriter on the street with a sign that said “Poetry Store” and discovered something surprising: all over America, people want poems. An amateur busker at first, Brian asked countless strangers, “What do you need a poem about?” To his surprise, passersby opened up to share their deepest yearnings, loves, and heartbreaks. Hundreds of them. Then thousands. Around the nation, Brian’s poetry crusade drew countless converts from all walks of life. In The Poetry of Strangers, Brian tells the story of his cross-country journey in a series of heartfelt and insightful essays. From Minnesota to Tennessee, California to North Dakota, Brian discovered that people aren’t so afraid of poetry when it’s telling their stories. In “dying” towns flourish vibrant artistic spirits and fascinating American characters who often pass under the radar, from the Mall of America’s mall walkers to retirees on Amtrak to self-proclaimed witches in Salem. In a time of unprecedented loneliness and isolation, Brian’s journey shows how art can be a vital bridge to community in surprising places. Conventional wisdom says Americans don’t want to talk to each other, but according to this poet-for-hire, everyone is just dying to be heard. Thought-provoking, moving, and eye-opening, The Poetry of Strangers is an unforgettable portrait of America told through the hidden longings of one person at a time, by one of our most important voices today. The fault lines and conflicts which divide us fall away when we remember to look, in every stranger, for poetry.

Brian Sonia-Wallace (Author), Graham Halstead (Narrator)

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Tam Van Phong Dao

Mac Can's real name is Le Trung Can, born in 1945, from a poor family with many brothers. Each of his brothers each scene, struggling to earn a living by hundreds of jobs and everyone is poor. He is an Vietnamese artist and writer. He is well-known as a multi-talented artist, involved in many fields of arts activities such as comedy, film, magic performance and writing. Mac Can, the artist of the circus theater and comedy, wrote and short stories. Now is the novel, “Tam Van Phong Dao”. Mac Can effectively uses cockroach tactics. Every event, every fluctuation of the outside life that has been reproduced directly is immediately pushed away, passed through the boy's filter, imprinted in it the graph lines tremble. The story of the time was just an excuse for the emotions of a person to flow out. The event at a moment is erased, making way for contemplations, vibrations, subtle emotions. Many pages have reached the rare level of the sadness and sadness of being a human being ... The novel won the A Prize in the novel competition of Vietnam Writers Association; Ho Chi Minh City Literature Award; Vietnam Entrepreneur Culture Award 2005.

Mac Can (Author), Huong Thuong (Narrator)

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Stephen Fry In America

Britain's best-loved comic genius Stephen Fry turns his celebrated wit and insight to unearthing the real America as he travels across the continent in his black taxicab. Stephen's account of his adventures is filled with his unique humour, insight and warmth in this beautifully illustrated book that accompanies his journey for the BBC1 series. Stephen Fry is a treasure of the British Empire.' - The Guardian Stephen Fry has always loved America; in fact he came very close to being born there. Here, his fascination for the country and its people sees him embark on an epic journey across America, visiting each of its 51 states to discover how such a huge diversity of people, cultures, languages, beliefs and landscapes combine to create such a remarkable nation. Starting on the eastern seaboard, Stephen zig-zags across the country in his London taxicab, talking to its hospitable citizens, listening to its music, visiting its landmarks, viewing small-town life and America's breath-taking landscapes – following wherever his curiosity leads him. Stephen meets a collection of remarkable individuals – American icons and unsung local heroes alike. He drops for tea with Steven Spielberg in Ohio, talks to George Bush on his ranch in Texas; visits Maine's most famous resident, Stephen King; meets Bill Gates in Washington; samples Memphis music courtesy of Aretha Franklin; and who better to talk about California than its governor Arnold Schwarzenegger? But there are also unknown mayors, sheriffs, newspaper editors, park rangers, teachers and hobos that Stephen encounters, bringing to life the oddities and splendours of each locale. He discovers Oklahoma's World Cow Pat Throwing Contest, attends Independence Day Parades, cherry-pie bake-offs, and visits the heartland of the Sioux Nation in South Dakota. Along the way, Stephen discovers that each state has its bizarre and quaint local laws – for example, did you know that in Alaska it is illegal to push a moose out of an aircraft, and in New Hampshire on Sundays, citizens may not relieve themselves while looking up? A celebration of the magnificent and the eccentric, the beautiful and the strange, Stephen Fry's In America is our author's homage to this extraordinary country.

Stephen Fry (Author), Stephen Fry (Narrator)

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Cross Country: A 3700-Mile Run to Explore Unseen America

In 2017, professional runner Rickey Gates ran 3,700 miles across the continental United States with just a small backpack and an anthropologist's curiosity to discover the divided America in which we live. In the book Cross Country, Gates documents this epic experience from South Carolina to San Francisco, sharing first-person essays and interviews from the ordinary and extraordinary people and places he saw along the way. While Gates delivers unparalleled insight into the extreme athletic and mental challenge of this transcontinental run, running is not the core focus of Cross Country—it is a story of the remarkable people across the United States who we would otherwise never meet. • A travelogue that follows along Rickey Gates's run across the country, and the individuals who live in it • From South Carolina to San Francisco, the five-month-long run covers 3,700 miles of hiking trails, rivers, and roads. Gates slept in the rain, carried meager possessions on his back, ran through the night, endured mental and physical challenges, and survived on a staple of gas station hot dogs and Pop Tarts. Delivering a patchwork portrait of America, Gates's captivating story captures the spirit of our country—that grit, determination, and compassion are qualities that can unite us all.

Rickey Gates (Author), Rickey Gates (Narrator)

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El Paso to Las Cruces via Roswell

Thunderbirds flying the skies over Las Cruces; the infamous Roswell Incident; Bigfoot roaming Apache land; strange, malevolent beings that live underground; a shape-shifting witch that appears as an owl; turtles the size of cars sharing their lake with an octopus-man. These are but a few of the mysteries waiting the be discovered in southern New Mexico and western Texas. In his second installment in the Detours Into the Paranormal series, author Denver Michaels travels to the Southwest to explore some of the high strangeness in the region. Along the way, he shares his own experiences in the Guadalupe Mountains, White Sands, Roswell, and many other must-see locations. Using his unique ability to blend history, personal experience, and tales of the paranormal, and over seventy photographs, Michaels tells a gripping story. Buckle in!

Denver Michaels (Author), Denver Michaels (Narrator)

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State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America: 50 Writers on 50 States

See America with Fifty of Our Finest, Funniest, and Foremost Writers. Anthony Bourdain chases the fumigation truck in Bergen County, New Jersey. Dave Eggers tells it straight: Illinois is Number 1. Louise Erdrich loses her bikini top in North Dakota. Jonathan Franzen gets waylaid by New York's publicist . . . and personal attorney . . . and historian . . . and geologist. John Hodgman explains why there is no such thing as a 'Massachusettsean.' Edward P. Jones makes the case: DC should be a state! Jhumpa Lahiri declares her reckless love for the Rhode Island coast. Rick Moody explores the dark heart of Connecticut's Merritt Parkway, exit by exit. Ann Patchett makes a pilgrimage to the Civil War site at Shiloh, Tennessee. William T. Vollmann visits a San Francisco S&M club and many more!

Matt Weiland, Sean Wilsey (Author), Michael Butler Murray, Tanya Eby (Narrator)

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Roadside Americans: The Rise and Fall of Hitchhiking in a Changing Nation

Between the Great Depression and the mid-1970s, hitchhikers were a common sight for motorists, as American service members, students, and adventurers sought out the romance of the road in droves. Beats, hippies, feminists, and civil rights and antiwar activists saw 'thumb tripping' as a vehicle for liberation, living out the counterculture's rejection of traditional values. Yet, by the time Ronald Reagan, a former hitchhiker himself, was in the White House, the youthful faces on the road chasing the ghost of Jack Kerouac were largely gone-along with sympathetic portrayals of the practice in state legislatures and the media. In Roadside Americans, Jack Reid traces the rise and fall of hitchhiking, offering vivid accounts of life on the road and how the act of soliciting rides from strangers, and the attitude toward hitchhikers in American society, evolved over time in sync with broader economic, political, and cultural shifts. In doing so, Reid offers insight into significant changes in the United States amid the decline of liberalism and the rise of the Reagan Era.

Jack Reid (Author), Johnny Heller (Narrator)

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Different Natures: And the Spaces In-Between

Different Natures takes you on three journeys. Each gives an honest and passionate insight into the evolution of a compulsive traveller. Looking for direction with the wrong eyes spawned Graham's lust for wandering, the miles cleared his vision and the hunger for longer distance grows with an insatiable appetite for new experiences. Based on his diaries spanning a twelve-year period of travel from the Arctic Circle to Mexico, Graham Field's journeys are his life. Inevitably these experiences increase his awareness as he passes through various natures of both a reluctant maturity and the extreme environments between his destinations. From midnight sun to darkest nights, there's as much diversity in these tales as common threads.

Graham Field (Author), Graham Field (Narrator)

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Wildest of the Wild West: True Tales of a Frontier Town on the Santa Fe Trail, forward by Max Evans

Bizarre but totally true tales of the wildest town on the Western frontier, Las Vegas, New Mexico! Violence and treachery abounded, but also heroism, ingenuity, and low and high comedy. Jesse James, Doc Holliday, Kit Carson, Billy the Kid, even Abraham Lincoln and Lew Wallace and scores of other famous and infamous characters all played parts in the story of the roughest town on the frontier! (Historian Ralph Emerson Twitchell once claimed regarding the Old West, 'Without exception there was no town which harbored a more disreputable gang of desperadoes and outlaws than did Las Vegas.') Incredible stories of a railroad town -- and a 'police force' -- totally out of control. Most of your favorite famous outlaws spent time in 'Vegas,' as well as an even more violent, devious bunch you probably didn't know. All told by noted historian and master storyteller, Howard Bryan, with an introduction by Max Evans.

Howard Bryan (Author), Jim Terr (Narrator)

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United States Audiobooks in Travel