A Christmas Carol
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2 hours, 47 minutes
Unabridged Classic Novel
1843
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is the classic tale of curmudgeon Ebeneezer Scrooge and the visitation of three ghosts (four if you include Marley) in the run up to Christmas. Read by James Spencer.
Continue reading "A Christmas Carol"
Posted by alex at 9:55 AM
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2 hours, 20 minutes
Unabridged Free Verse Poetry Collection
1855
"Song of Myself" is the longest and most famous book (of 35 total) of Walt Whitman's legendary poetry collection Leaves of Grass. Song of Myself is a longform poem in 52 parts. Read by Alex Wilson.
Continue reading "Leaves of Grass Book III: Song of Myself"
Posted by alex at 12:01 AM
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21 minutes, 12 seconds
Unabridged Humorous Story
1870
A comedic fable about gender issues, succession, identity crisis, and, yes, a bit of love and romance in a patriarchal kingdom in the year 1222. By the incomparable Mark Twain.
Continue reading "A Medieval Romance"
Posted by alex at 12:08 AM
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27 minutes, 3 seconds
Unabridged Short Story
1914
Two stories about Dubliners on the cusp of adulthood, figuring out how to balance their respective responsibilities and freedoms. "Eveline" and "After the Race" are the fourth and fifth stories in James Joyce's collection Dubliners, classic tales dealing thematically with miscommunication, isolation, class differences, and emotional paralysis in Joyce's Ireland.
Read by Alex Wilson.
Continue reading "Dubliners: Eveline & After the Race"
Posted by alex at 2:52 PM
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6 minutes, 58 seconds
Unabridged Formal Poetry
1816
Two poems by one of the founders of the Romantic Movement.
Coleridge claimed that "Kubla Khan," one of his most famous works, came to him in an opium-inspired dream. Coleridge's symbolic pleasure-dome of Xanadu in this poem is referenced and even built in Orson Well's classic film, Citizen Kane. The full title of the poem is "Kubla Khan Or, a Vision in a Dream. A Fragment."
"The Pains of Sleep" by contrast is a more conversational and emotional piece, dealing with nightmares instead of utopian fantasies, but it is very likely that this poem, too, was inspired by Coleridge's continued opium use.
Though both poems were first published at the same time in 1816, Coleridge wrote "Kubla Khan" a good 6 years before 1803's "The Pains of Sleep," revealing very different mental reactions to his continued drug use. 1816 was also the year when Coleridge finally sought help for his addiction.
Read by Alex Wilson.
Continue reading "Kubla Khan & The Pains of Sleep"
Posted by alex at 11:46 AM
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33 minutes, 22 seconds
Unabridged Horror / Mystery Fiction
1843
"Who has not, a hundred times, found himself committing a vile or a silly action, for no other reason than because he knows he should not? Have we not a perpetual inclination, in the teeth of our best judgment, to violate that which is Law, merely because we understand it to be such?"
Poe's classic horror tale about intoxication, murder, and a most mysterious cat. Read by Alex Wilson.
Continue reading "The Black Cat"
Posted by alex at 12:07 AM
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1 hour, 19 minutes
Unabridged Military Treatise
600 BC, 1910 (translation)
The classic, definitive Chinese book on military strategies and tactics. For centuries it has influenced generals, rulers, and others interested in military intelligence. More recently it has become required reading for some businesses executives. Translation from the Chinese by Lionel Giles. Read by Alex Wilson.
The free MP3 sample below includes the entirety of Part 7.
Continue reading "The Art of War"
Posted by alex at 3:29 PM
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46 minutes, 51 minutes
Unabridged Science Fiction Story
2002
To live forever, you can copy your mind and transfer it to an immortal robotic body. But what happens to your Shed Skin?
This Hugo Award Nominated short story has appeared in the January 2004 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, as well as the Bakka 30th Anniversary Anthology. Sawyer's 2005 novel Mindscan is a longer treatment of the themes explored here. Narrated by Stephen Hoye.
Posted by alex at 12:26 AM
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34 minutes, 25 seconds
Unabridged Epic SF Poem
1798
The classic longform adventure poem in seven parts. MP3 Sample below includes the entire first part.
Continue reading "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
Posted by alex at 8:25 AM
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16 minutes, 15 seconds
Unabridged Short Western Story
1892
A farmer in the Western frontier has a vision in one of Cather's earliest stories. First published in The Hesperian.
Continue reading "Lou, the Prophet"
Posted by alex at 10:52 AM
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1 hour, 1 minute
Unabridged NIMH Informational Brochure
2003
A detailed booklet describing what you need to know about depression in men: how it looks, how it feels, getting help, and getting better. Read by Alex Wilson.
Full text (including a printable and redistributable brochure) available at the NIMH website.
Have you known a man who is grumpy, irritable, and has no sense of humor? Maybe he drinks too much or abuses drugs. Maybe he physically or verbally abuses his wife and his kids. Maybe he works all the time, or compulsively seeks thrills in high-risk behavior. Or maybe he seems isolated, withdrawn, and no longer interested in the people or activities he used to enjoy.
Perhaps this man is you. If so, it is important to understand that there is a disease of the brain called depression that may be underlying these feelings and behaviors. It's real: scientists have developed sensitive imaging devices that enable us to see it in the brain. And it's treatable: more than 80 percent of those suffering from depression respond to existing treatments, and new ones are continually becoming available and helping more people. Talk to a healthcare provider about how you are feeling, and ask for help.
Or perhaps this man is someone you care about. Try to talk to him, or to someone who has a chance of getting through to him. Help him to understand that depression is a common illness among men and is nothing to be ashamed about. Encourage him to see a doctor and get an evaluation for depression.
For most men with depression, life doesn't have to be so dark and hopeless. Life is hard enough as it is; and treating depression can free up vital resources to cope with life's challenges effectively. When a man is depressed, he's not the only one who suffers. His depression also darkens the lives of his family, his friends, virtually everyone close to him. Getting him into treatment can send ripples of healing and hope into all of those lives.
Depression is a real illness; it is treatable; and men can have it. It takes courage to ask for help, but help can make all the difference.
Continue reading "NIMH: Men and Depression"
Posted by alex at 6:09 PM
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15 minutes, 54 seconds
Unabridged Short Story
1914
The adventure and frustration of a first crush.
"Every morning I lay on the floor in the front parlour watching her door. The blind was pulled down to within an inch of the sash so that I could not be seen. When she came out on the doorstep my heart leaped. I ran to the hall, seized my books and followed her. I kept her brown figure always in my eye and, when we came near the point at which our ways diverged, I quickened my pace and passed her. This happened morning after morning. I had never spoken to her, except for a few casual words, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood."
The third coming-of-age story in James Joyce's collection Dubliners, classic tales dealing thematically with miscommunication, isolation, class differences, and emotional paralysis in Joyce's Ireland. Read by Alex Wilson.
Continue reading "Dubliners: Araby"
Posted by alex at 12:00 PM
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15 minutes, 56 seconds
Unabridged NIMH Informational Brochure
2001
A detailed booklet that describes symptoms, causes, and treatments, with information on getting help and coping.
Full text (including a printable and redistributable brochure) available at the NIMH website.
Continue reading "NIMH: Eating Disorders"
Posted by alex at 4:06 PM
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27 minutes, 20 seconds
Unabridged Short SF Story
2001
"Sexy blond aliens invade New York City?" A short story from Link's short story collection Stranger Things Happen, a Salon Book of the Year and one of the Village Voice's 25 Favorite Books of 2001.
Read by Alex Wilson.
Continue reading "Most of My Friends Are Two-Thirds Water"
Posted by alex at 12:01 AM
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37 minutes, 26 seconds
Two Unabridged Humor Essays
1882,1899
Includes the Telltale Weekly comedic recordings of Mark Twain's "My First Lie (And How I Got Out of It)" and "On the Decay of the Art of Lying." From "My First Lie (and How I Got Out of It):"
"As I understand it, what you desire is information about 'my first lie, and how I got out of it.' I was born in 1835; I am well along, and my memory is not as good as it was. If you had asked about my first truth it would have been easier for me and kinder of you, for I remember that fairly well. I remember it as if it were last week. The family think it was the week before, but that is flattery..."
From "On the Decay of the Art of Lying:"
"Observe, I do not mean to suggest that the custom of lying has suffered any decay or interruption--no, for the Lie, as a virtue, a principle, is eternal; the lie, as a recreation, a solace, a refuge in time of need, the fourth Grace, the tenth Muse, man's best and surest friend, is immortal, and cannot perish from the earth while this club remains. My complaint simply concerns the decay of the art of lying..."
Two humorous essays/speeches read by Alex Wilson.
Continue reading "Mark Twain Lies!"
Posted by alex at 7:55 PM
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1 hour, 14 minutes
Unabridged Story Collection
1891, 1894, 1909
Susie Berneis and Robert Bethune narrate five stories by Bierce, full of vivid characters, precise and evocative language, surprises and suspense.
An Occurrence on Owl Creek Bridge
A life, flashing before the eyes, and a miraculous escape from certain death, suddenly becomes--something else entirely. Bierce's strangest and most famous fantasy. A French film adaptation of "Owl Creek Bridge" won the Academy Award for short film in 1963, and also became the hightest-rated episode of The Twilight Zone.
Staley Fleming's Hallucination
The ghost of a Newfoundland dog with a white forefoot--and hungry for revenge!
The Damned Thing
A wild, ferocious animal determined to drive a man off his land-or or drive him insane, once he realizes the strange truth about the danger he faces.
Diagnosis of Death
A doctor whose incredibly accurate diagnoses are not at all conducive to a long and healthy life.
The Boarded Window
A window forever boarded up; a love forever gone.
Written a century ago, these stories still capture the imagination with vivid, precise language that bites--and may even draw blood. This Freshwater Seas production presents these five classics performed by Susie Berneis and Robert Bethune, with subtle musical underscoring to enhance and enrich Bierce's words.
Continue reading "A Bite of Bierce: Owl Creek Bridge and Other Stories"
Posted by alex at 3:45 PM
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25 minutes, 49 seconds
Unabridged Fairy Tale
1899
Oscar Wilde's fable about the true meaning of happiness.
Continue reading "The Happy Prince"
Posted by alex at 1:32 PM
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43 minutes, 21 seconds
Unabridged Formal Poem
1820
Shelley at his most playful (starting with the dedication to his wife, Frankenstein author Mary Shelley: "On her objecting to the following poem, upon the score of its containing no human interest."), combining Greek and Egyptian myths into a fanciful meditation on creativity. A longform poem of the fantastic, read by Alex Wilson.
Continue reading "The Witch of Atlas"
Posted by alex at 6:24 PM
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21 minutes, 58 seconds
Unabridged Short Story
1914
"It was Joe Dillon who introduced the Wild West to us. He had a little library made up of old numbers of The Union Jack , Pluck and The Halfpenny Marvel . Every evening after school we met in his back garden and arranged Indian battles. He and his fat young brother Leo, the idler, held the loft of the stable while we tried to carry it by storm; or we fought a pitched battle on the grass. But, however well we fought, we never won siege or battle and all our bouts ended with Joe Dillon's war dance of victory..."
The second coming-of-age story in James Joyce's collection Dubliners, classic tales dealing thematically with miscommunication, isolation, class differences, and emotional paralysis in Joyce's Ireland.
Read by Alex Wilson.
Continue reading "Dubliners: An Encounter"
Posted by alex at 3:08 PM
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2 hours, 1 minute
Unabridged Science Fiction Novella
2000
Retrieval Artists find people who have Disappeared. But people Disappear for a reason--they don't want to be found. When Anetka Sobol shows up at Miles Flint's office on the Moon, he immediately knows that this case is going to be complicated.
A hard-boiled science fiction mystery. A Hugo Award Nominee, Locus Poll Award Nominee, and AnLab Award Nominee first published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact. Read by Stefan Rudnicki.
Continue reading "The Retrieval Artist"
Posted by alex at 11:52 AM
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27 minutes, 29 seconds
Unabridged Historical Document
1787
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America..."
Read by John Jennens.
Also available: The Bill of Rights (free) and The Declaration of Independence (50 cents).
Continue reading "The Constitution"
Posted by alex at 10:01 AM
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23 minutes, 51 seconds
Unabridged Short Story
1914
"There was no hope for him this time: it was the third stroke. Night after night I had passed the house (it was vacation time) and studied the lighted square of window: and night after night I had found it lighted in the same way, faintly and evenly. If he was dead, I thought, I would see the reflection of candles on the darkened blind for I knew that two candles must be set at the head of a corpse. He had often said to me: 'I am not long for this world,' and I had thought his words idle. Now I knew they were true..."
The first story in James Joyce's collection Dubliners, classic tales dealing thematically with miscommunication, isolation, class differences, and emotional paralysis in Joyce's Ireland.
Read by Alex Wilson.
Continue reading "Dubliners: The Sisters"
Posted by alex at 11:47 AM
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