Narrated by Maya Hawke, Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion has a runtime of 6 hrs 23 mins on Audible.
Publisher’s Summary
This program is read by actor and singer-songwriter Maya Hawke, star of Netflix’s Stranger Things.
“Narrating in a voice as clear and sustaining as a cool glass of water, Hawke’s unflashy approach allows the words to reveal their magic.”—The Orange County Register
“Didion’s timeless essays shine with Hawke at the helm. This audiobook will bring new listeners to this classic and is highly recommended for libraries everywhere.”—Library Journal (Starred Review)
“Maya Hawke performs this classic collection superbly…Hawke gets Didion’s measured pace and thoughtful tone just right as she conveys the much admired author’s idiosyncratic, elegant language.”—AudioFile (Earphones Award Winner)
Celebrated, iconic, and indispensable, Joan Didion’s first work of nonfiction, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, is considered a watershed moment in American writing. First published in 1968, the collection was critically praised as one of the “best prose written in this country.”
More than perhaps any other book, this collection by one of the most distinctive prose stylists of our era captures the unique time and place of Joan Didion’s focus, exploring subjects such as John Wayne and Howard Hughes, growing up in California and the nature of good and evil in a Death Valley motel room, and, especially, the essence of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury, the heart of the counterculture. As Joyce Carol Oates remarked: “[Didion] has been an articulate witness to the most stubborn and intractable truths of our time, a memorable voice, partly eulogistic, partly despairing; always in control.”
A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Audiobook Details
- Narrated by: Maya Hawke
- Length: 6 hrs 23 mins
- Publisher: Macmillan Audio
- Release year: 2024
- Audible category: History / Americas / United States
Listener Ratings
Slouching Towards Bethlehem holds an average listener rating of 4.7/5 from 140 Audible ratings.
On Audible, ratings for this title break down into narration performance and story separately:
- Performance (narration): 4.8/5
- Story: 4.7/5
- 5-star ratings: 75% of all ratings
What Audible Listeners Are Saying
5/5 stars — “A Real Writer”
What a joy to hear sentence after gorgeous sentence from a writer like Joan Didion. This collection of essays/stories was published the year before I was born, and though I have spent very little time in California, Didion keen eye and precise language transported me there to view the widening gyre where things fall apart. Hawke’s gentle rasp credibly spoke Didion into being.— Brent Scott, Audible listener
4/5 stars — “All enjoyable..”
Short stories from 1960’s CA, raw, real, and often gritty. The readers voice is particularly lovely.— P, Audible listener
5/5 stars — “Long ago & far away”
I was a child then but I remember. Her insights ring true even now. Thank you!— N. Celmins, Audible listener
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