Shirley Jackson has 9 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 16 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.6★ across 1,616 ratings. The most-rated is An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth.
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth
Summary
As Commander of the International Space Station, Chris Hadfield captivated the world with stunning photos and commentary from space. Now, reading from his first book, Chris takes listeners deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible.
Chris Hadfield decided to become an astronaut after watching the Apollo moon landing with his family on Stag Island, Ontario, when he was nine years old, and it was impossible for Canadians to be astronauts. In 2013, he served as Commander of the International Space Station orbiting the Earth during a five-month mission. Fulfilling this lifelong dream required intense focus, natural ability and a singular commitment to "thinking like an astronaut."
In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Chris gives us a rare insider's perspective on just what that kind of thinking involves, and how earthbound humans can use it to achieve success and happiness in their lives.
Astronaut training turns popular wisdom about how to be successful on its head. Instead of visualizing victory, astronauts prepare for the worst; always sweat the small stuff; and do care what others think. Chris shows how this unique education comes into play with dramatic anecdotes about going blind during a spacewalk, getting rid of a live snake while piloting a plane, and docking with space station Mir when laser tracking systems fail at the critical moment. Along the way, he shares exhilarating experiences, and challenges, from his 144 days on the ISS, and provides an unforgettable answer to his most-asked question: What's it really like in outer space?
With humour, humility and a profound optimism for the future of space exploration, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth offers listeners not just the inspiring story of one man's journey to the ISS, but the opportunity to step into his space-boots and think like an astronaut - and renew their commitment to pursuing their own dreams, big or small.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2013 Chris Hadfield (P)2013 Random House Audio
The Haunting of Hill House
Summary
Past the rusted gates and untrimmed hedges, Hill House broods and waits…. Four seekers have come to the ugly, abandoned old mansion: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of the psychic phenomenon called haunting; Theodora, his lovely and lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a lonely, homeless girl well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the adventurous future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable noises and self-closing doors, but Hill House is gathering its powers and will soon choose one of them to make its own. Shirley Jackson (1916–1965), a celebrated writer of horror, wrote such classic novels as We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Bird’s Nest, as well as one of the most famous short stories in the English language, “The Lottery”. She has influenced such writers as Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, and Richard Matheson.
©1959 Shirley Jackson; renewed 1987 by Laurence Hyman, Barry Hyman, Sarah Webster, and Joanne Schnurer (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Summary
Six years after four family members died of arsenic poisoning, the three remaining Blackwoods—elder, agoraphobic sister Constance; wheelchair-bound Uncle Julian; and 18-year-old Mary Katherine, or, Merricat—live together in pleasant isolation. Merricat has developed an idiosyncratic system of rules and protective magic to guard the estate against intrusions from hostile villagers. But one day a stranger arrives—cousin Charles, with his eye on the Blackwood fortune—and manages to penetrate into their carefully shielded lives. Unable to drive him away by either polite or occult means, Merricat adopts more desperate methods, resulting in crisis, tragedy, and the revelation of a terrible secret.
©1962 Shirley Jackson (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
White Fire
Summary
Past and present collide in Preston and Child's most thrilling novel ever.... Special Agent Pendergast arrives at an exclusive Colorado ski resort to rescue his protégée, Corrie Swanson, from serious trouble with the law. His sudden appearance coincides with the first attack of a murderous arsonist who - with brutal precision - begins burning down multimillion-dollar mansions with the families locked inside. After springing Corrie from jail, Pendergast learns she made a discovery while examining the bones of several miners who were killed 150 years earlier by a rogue grizzly bear. Her finding is so astonishing that it, even more than the arsonist, threatens the resort's very existence. Drawn deeper into the investigation, Pendergast uncovers a mysterious connection between the dead miners and a fabled, long-lost Sherlock Holmes story - one that might just offer the key to the modern day killings as well. Now, with the ski resort snowed in and under savage attack - and Corrie's life suddenly in grave danger - Pendergast must solve the enigma of the past before the town of the present goes up in flames.
©2013 Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (P)2013 Hachette Audio
Life Among the Savages
Summary
In her celebrated fiction, Shirley Jackson explored the darkness lurking beneath the surface of small-town America. But in Life Among the Savages, she takes on the lighter side of small-town life. In this witty and warm memoir of her family's life in rural Vermont, she delightfully exposes a domestic side in cheerful contrast to her quietly terrifying fiction. With a novelist's gift for character, an unfailing maternal instinct, and her signature humor, Jackson turns everyday family experiences into brilliant adventures.
©1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953; renewed 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981 Shirley Jackson; renewed Laurence Hyman, Joan Schnurer, Barry Hyman, and Sarah Webster (P)2015 Dreamscape Media, LLC
The Lottery and Seven Other Stories
Summary
It's just townspeople picking numbers for the annual lottery...why, then, is there an ominous feeling to "The Lottery"? Find out just what this lottery is for, and listen to seven other unique stories. The collection reveals Jackson's remarkable range, from hilarious to horrifying, dealing with modern issues of alienation, empowerment, racism, and economic class. The stories are "The Lottery", "Flower Garden", "Come Dance with Me in Ireland", "Men with Their Big Shoes", "Trial by Combat", "Pillar of Salt", "Like Mother Used to Make", and "Colloquy".
©2010 The Estate of Shirley Jackson (P)2010 BBC Audiobooks America
The Lottery, and Other Stories
Summary
A powerful collection of short stories by Shirley Jackson. "The Lottery," one of the most terrifying stories of the twentieth century, created a sensation when it was first published in the New Yorker. "Powerful and haunting," and "nights of unrest" were typical reader responses. This collection, the only one to appear during Jackson's lifetime, unites "The Lottery" with 24 equally unusual stories. Together they demonstrate her remarkable range - from the hilarious to the truly horrible - and power as a storyteller.
©2014 Skyboat Media (P)2014 Blackstone Audio
The Witchcraft of Salem Village
Summary
A detailed account of one of the strangest and most shocking episodes in American history, written by the author of "The Lottery". Stories of magic, superstition, and witchcraft were strictly forbidden in the little town of Salem Village. But a group of young girls ignored those rules, spellbound by the tales told by a woman named Tituba. When questioned about their activities, the terrified girls set off a whirlwind of controversy as they accused townsperson after townsperson of being witches. Author Shirley Jackson examines in careful detail this horrifying true story of accusations, trials, and executions that shook a community to its foundations.
©1956 Shirley Jackson (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Selected Shorts
Summary
Hilarious and colorful episodes in the lives of families, many depicted from a kid's-eye-view, are the theme for this compilation. Being part of a family is often trying, and stranger than any fiction, but never dull and always worth it in the end. Join these very different families as they face the shrinking of parents, the pre-emptive guilt of First Confession, the secret worlds of children, and more! Included are: Shirley Jackson's CharlesRead by Lois SmithLaurie's parents are dying to meet the most misbehaved boy in school. Frank O'Connor's First ConfessionRead by Malachy McCourtA guilt-ridden Irish lad fears his first confession may be his last. Toure's Solomon's Big Day: A Children's StoryRead by Daniel Alexander JonesA little boy named Solomon escapes into the magical world of his paintings. Grace Paley's The Loudest Voice Read by Linda LavinThis year's Christmas pageant stars a Jewish girl. Diane Leslie's A Life of CrimeRead by Jill EikenberryLove and passion, Hollywood style, from a girl's-eye-view. Etgar Keret's Pride and JoyRead by Robert Sean LeonardA young man struggles to save his shrinking parents. Rick Moody's BoysRead by B. D. WongThe world of boys.
©2007 Symphony Space, Inc. (P)2007 Symphony Space, Inc.