Showing results by narrator "Deaver Brown Deaver Brown" in All Categories

Considered one of the great American short stories; Kurt Vonnegut said it was the best. Set in the Civil War with a Southwestern humor twist worthy of Mark Twain, but much grimmer. The story of betrayal as a Northern Scout in the Civil War lures a planter to blow up a bridge so he can be caught and hanged. Short, concise, worthy.

Chickamauga is a heart-rending Civil War story told through the eyes of a lost boy. The child bears witness to the atrocities of war. He sees dying men crawling across the ground, and later returns to his old homestead, only to find it has been largely destroyed. A must read for people interested in the Civil War and Americana in general, this short story by Ambrose Bierce sheds new light war and its aftermath.

"The Story of a Conscience" is a classic story by Ambrose Bierce, relating how soldiers are often closer to one another, on either side of a war, than to outsiders. This story probes the depths of complicated issues that come up during wartime, including loyalty, trust, and of course, conscience.

Ambrose Bierce's "One Kind of Officer" is a story of the heartache of orders given without discretion in the field. Like so many of his Civil War stories, it is a thoughtful look at the problems facing soldiers during wartime. An abuse of power leads to a needless death in this classic American tale.

These are the 13 best known and respected short works of Stephen Crane. George's "Mother and The Monster" are particularly highly regarded but rarely read and almost never listened to. In addition, this audiobook includes "A Dark Brown Dog", "A Great Mistake", "An Experiment in Luxury", "An Experiment in Misery", "An Ominous Baby", "Flanagan", "His New Mittens", "The Five White Mice", "The Knife", "The Men in the Storm", and "The Veteran".

Willa Cather was perhaps most famous for her great novels such as My Antonia and Death Comes to the Archbishop. However, her short stories were enchanting and practical, local and cosmopolitan. Of the great American writers of the early part of the twentieth century she stood alone in her vision. No American writer ever had her breadth of experience and knowledge of people and places, relating to farmers in Nebraska, to barons in New York, and artists in Paris.

>"The Queer Client" is a desolate story about death and revenge. The tragedy of the story is that every character in the story dies or loses - or both. "The Queer Client" is a remarkable and powerful work about the grim realities of debtor's prison and the fertile ground for despair and revenge found therein. Read by an American voice, by listener request.

Four of Oscar Wilde's best stories - perhaps his best work of all. In any case, these selections are well worth hearing for their wide range of thoughts, emotions, and wit. An afterword is included for those interested. (American accent narration.)

"The Lamplighter" is ironic and iconic Dickens. A story within a story about dreams of wealth, with Dickensian wit throughout. A treat for Dickens fans who have not heard this lovely story before. (American accent narration.)

A story that has a version of Uriah Heap, a story within a story, touching on the themes of death and deliverance, anger and revenge. This is a classic short story well worth introducing to young listeners to before they embark on the longer voyage of Dickens' novels. Dickens employs wonderful character names here, such as Mr. Heap and here Mr. Slinkton. Cathartic and uplifting. (American accent narration.)

One of Oscar Wilde's best-loved short stories, which includes romance, love, and murder. The discussion of murder is light-hearted and witty, in typical Wilde fashion. A must listen for fans of the author.

"The District Doctor" is a wonderful Turgenev short story that appealed and influenced American authors, such as Henry James and F. Scott Fitzgerald for its writing style, and Sherwood Anderson and Ernest Hemingway for its focus on moments. As the Doctor says to a new acquaintance, "Sometimes you know people for a long time and never talk about anything that touches the soul; sometimes you start there on the first conversation."

"The Holly Tree" is a warm Christmas story by Charles Dickens and a listening treat for adults during the holiday season or almost any time of year. Full of wonderful Dickensian words, phrases, and irony. The story contains a strain of great truth, and love for Americans, who Dickens depicts over-friendly but warm, kindly, generous, and warm hearted.

Sherwood Anderson was cited by Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Cather, and others as a major influence in the writing of short stories. "Winesburg, Ohio" is a landmark work many of us encounter as students. Anderson, in many ways, is best experinced in audio. He believed stories were meant to be told, as they are in the stories themselves. These nine are his best: "Brothers", "The Door of the Trap", "The Dumb Man", "The Egg", "Motherhood", "The New Englander", "The Other Woman", "Seeds", and "War."

Presidential Wisdom contains instructive and inspiring quotations from every president, from George Washington through Barack Obama. Most of us know some of the more famous quotations by the most generally revered six: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, F.D.R., and Ronald Reagan. But don’t overlook the others, such as John Adams, James Madison, and James Monroe, who helped draft the Bill of Rights and Constitution.

People: Ten Habits for Influencing Others addresses the habits of successful people - influencers - who use those valuable skills in their personal and professional lives. Listening and relistening to this audiobook pays dividends repeatedly. When confronted with a specific "people problem", relisten to this audiobook to find a way out of your dilemma.

"Paul's Case" was first published in 1905 in Cather's first collection of short stories, titled The Troll Garden. Similar to "The Enchanted Forest" featured in her Nine Stories published by Simply, it is one of the great writer's stories accessible to most young people in high school and college. It relates to what they feel, think, and want to be. Perhaps just as importantly, it depicts young people upset by their current circumstances, their families, and the drabness they perceive in their own lives.

Mark Twain's marvelous short work relating how to tell a story - an American story that is humorous, not comic as the British or witty as the French. The work also includes four marvelous but little-known essays: "The Wounded Soldier", "The Golden Arm", "Mental Telegraphy", and "The Invalid's Story". Canadian listeners will particularly enjoy "Mental Telegraphy", set in Quebec.

An Excursion to Canada is a remarkable work by Thoreau, very different from his other works. Here he becomes an American traveler who shows far greater respect for America than Canada, while explaining the details of the chasm between the Church (Black) and the soldiers (Red) in Quebec that Stendhal pointed out in The Red and the Black in France. Something like DeTocqueville's Democracy in America, but here Canada is the country under the microscope.

A Charles Dickens Christmas story about remembering the poor, forgotten, and overlooked once a year by the Christmas fire. This grand story sets up the bickering Big Wig family as a guide to the laboring Nobody family, led by a man named Legion, and nothing good comes of it. Legion's master discusses his losses in term of the poor and their habits and diseases. Legion points out it is one world: "What happens to us happens to you."