The Entertainment & Celebrities category has 1,571 audiobooks on Listento.it, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 47,373 ratings. The most-rated is Born a Crime.
David Mitchell: Back Story
Summary
Shortlisted for: Biography/Autobiography of the Year – Specsavers National Book Awards 2012 David Mitchell, who you may know for his inappropriate anger on every TV panel show except Never Mind the Buzzcocks, his look of permanent discomfort on C4 sex comedy Peep Show, his online commenter-baiting in The Observer or just for wearing a stick-on moustache in That Mitchell and Webb Look, has written a book about his life. As well as giving a specific account of every single time he's scored some smack, this disgusting memoir also details: The singular, pit bull-infested charm of the FRP (‘Flat Roofed Pub’) The curious French habit of injecting everyone in the arse rather than the arm Why, by the time he got to Cambridge, he really, really needed a drink The pain of being denied a childhood birthday party at McDonalds The satisfaction of writing jokes about suicide How doing quite a lot of walking around London helps with his sciatica Trying to pretend he isn’t a total **** at Robert Webb’s wedding That he has fallen in love a LOT, but rarely done anything about it Why it would be worse to bump into Michael Palin than Hitler on holiday That he’s not David Mitchell the novelist, despite what David Miliband might think
©2012 David Mitchell (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
18 and Life on Skid Row
Summary
18 and Life on Skid Row tells the story of a boy who spent his childhood moving from Freeport, Bahamas, to California and finally to Canada and who, at the age of eight, discovered the gift that would change his life. Throughout his career Sebastian Bach has sold over 20 million records both as the lead singer of Skid Row and as a solo artist. He is particularly known for the hit singles "I Remember You", "Youth Gone Wild", and "18 & Life" and the albums Skid Row and Slave to the Grind, which became the first ever hard rock album to debut at number one on the Billboard Top 200 and landed him on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Bach then went on to become the first rock star to grace the Broadway stage, with starring roles in Jekyll & Hyde, Jesus Christ Superstar, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He also appeared for seven seasons on the hit television show Gilmore Girls. In his memoir Bach recounts lurid tales of excess and debauchery as he toured the world with Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Mötley Crüe, Soundgarden, Pantera, Nine Inch Nails, and Guns N' Roses. 18 and Life on Skid Row is the story of hitting it big at a young age and of a band that broke up in its prime. It is the story of a man who achieved his wildest dreams, only to lose his family and then his home. It is a story of perseverance; of wine, women, and song; and of a man who has made his life on the road and always will. 18 and Life on Skid Row is not your ordinary rock memoir, because Sebastian Bach is not your ordinary rock star.
©2016 Sebastian Bach (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers
The Good Neighbor
Summary
Fred Rogers (1928-2003) was an enormously influential figure in the history of television and in the lives of tens of millions of children. As the creator and star of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, he was a champion of compassion, equality, and kindness. Rogers was fiercely devoted to children and to taking their fears, concerns, and questions about the world seriously. The Good Neighbor, the first full-length biography of Fred Rogers, tells the story of this utterly unique and enduring American icon. Drawing on original interviews, oral histories, and archival documents, Maxwell King traces Rogers’s personal, professional, and artistic life through decades of work, including a surprising decision to walk away from the show to make television for adults, only to return to the neighborhood with increasingly sophisticated episodes, written in collaboration with experts on childhood development. An engaging story, rich in detail, The Good Neighbor is the definitive portrait of a beloved figure, cherished by multiple generations. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2018 Maxwell King (P)2018 Oasis Audio
Beautiful Scars
Summary
"Bunny told me there were secrets about me that she would take to the grave, secrets that no one would ever hear, including me...." Tom Wilson always felt something wasn't quite right. His parents, Bunny and George, were much older than other kids' parents. There were no baby photos of him in the house. At school, classmates called him Indian, despite his parents' Irish-Quebecois background. And as he got older, friends, lovers and even family members remarked on his uncanny resemblance to Bunny's closest relative, her niece Janie Lazare, whose father was a Mohawk from Kahnawake, Quebec. Tom wouldn't learn the truth about his identity until he was 53, when a tour handler whose mother had known Tom's now deceased parents let it slip that he was adopted. It would be another two years until he worked up the courage to confront Janie with what the handler had told him, what all his life he had suspected. Janie - the woman whom Tom called cousin, whom he'd known his whole life, who had lived with Tom and Bunny after George died - immediately broke into tears and confessed. She was his biological mother. In this incredible story about family and identity, carefully guarded secrets and profound acts of forgiveness, Tom Wilson writes about growing up as an outsider in two families - the family he lost and the family who took him in. His story takes us from working-class Hamilton of the 1960s and '70s, neighbourhoods peopled by fall-guy wrestlers, broke mobsters, and WWII vets, to today, as he continues his journey to connect with the man he now knows to be his father and with his Mohawk heritage and relatives, discovering Kahnawake chiefs, Brooklyn "skywalkers", and nomadic Arnold Palmer groupies among them. With a rare gift for storytelling and a remarkable story to tell, Tom Wilson writes with unflinching honesty and extraordinary compassion about his search for identity and for the truth about his family. Moving, captivating and at times hysterically funny, Beautiful Scars is a story about the families who raise us and the families who course through our veins.
©2017 Tom Wilson (P)2017 Doubleday Canada
Naked
Summary
Welcome to the hilarious, strange, elegiac, outrageous world of David Sedaris. In Naked, Sedaris turns the current mania for the memoir on its proverbial ear, mining the exceedingly rich terrain of his life, his family, and his unique worldview, a sensibility at once take-no-prisoners sharp and deeply charitable. A tart-tongued mother does dead-on imitations of her young son's nervous tics, to the great amusement of his teachers; a stint of Kerouackian wandering is undertaken (of course!) with a quadriplegic companion. Through it all is Sedaris's unmistakable voice, without a doubt one of the freshest in American writing.
©1997 David Sedaris (P)1998, 2001 Time Warner AudioBooks
Name Drop
Summary
From Ross Mathews, the nationally best-selling author of Man Up!, judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and alum of Chelsea Lately, a collection of hilarious and irreverent essays about his experience with Hollywood’s most talked-about celebrities. Pretend it’s happy hour and you and I are sitting at the bar. I look amazing and, I agree with you, much thinner in person. You look good, too. Maybe it’s the candlelight, maybe it’s the booze. Either way, let’s just go with it. Keep this all between you and me, and do me a favor? Don’t judge me if I name drop just a little. Television personality Ross Mathews likes telling stories. He was always outrageous and hilariously honest, even when the biggest celebrity he knew was his favorite lunch lady in the school cafeteria. Now that he has Hollywood experience - from interning behind the scenes at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to judging RuPaul’s Drag Race - he has a lot to talk about. In Name Drop, Ross dishes about being an unlikely insider in the alternate reality that is showbiz, like that time he was invited by Barbara Walters to host The View - only to learn his hero did not suffer fools; his Christmas with the Kardashians, which should be its own holiday special; and his news-making talk with Omarosa on Celebrity Big Brother, which, as it turns out, was just the tip of the iceberg. Holding nothing back, Ross shares the most treasured and surprising moments in his celebrity-filled career, and proves that while exposure may have made him a little bit famous, he is still as much a fanboy as ever. Filled with tales ranging from the horrifying to the hilarious - and with just the right “Rossipes” and cocktails to go along with them - Name Drop is every pop culture lover’s dream come true. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2020 Ross Mathews (P)2020 Simon & Schuster Audio
Never Grow Up
Summary
A candid, thrilling memoir from one of the most recognizable, influential, and beloved cinematic personalities in the world. Everyone knows Jackie Chan. Whether it’s from Rush Hour, Shanghai Noon, The Karate Kid, or Kung Fu Panda, Jackie is admired by generations of moviegoers for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and mind-bending stunts. In 2016 - after 56 years in the industry, over 200 films, and many broken bones - he received an honorary Academy Award for his lifetime achievement in film. But at 64 years old, Jackie is just getting started. Now, in Never Grow Up, the global superstar reflects on his early life, including his childhood years at the China Drama Academy (in which he was enrolled at the age of six), his big breaks (and setbacks) in Hong Kong and Hollywood, his numerous brushes with death (both on and off film sets), and his life as a husband and father (which has been, admittedly and regrettably, imperfect). Jackie has never shied away from his mistakes. Since The Young Master in 1980, Jackie’s films have ended with a bloopers reel in which he stumbles over his lines, misses his mark, or crashes to the ground in a stunt gone south. In Never Grow Up, Jackie applies the same spirit of openness to his life, proving time and time again why he’s beloved the world over: He’s honest, funny, kind, brave beyond reckoning and - after all this time - still young at heart.
©2018 Jackie Chan (P)2018 Simon & Schuster
Love Life
Summary
Actor, producer, and New York Times best-selling author Rob Lowe offers up a collection of personal stories in an honest and celebratory memoir about men and women, art and commerce, fathers and sons, addiction and recovery, and sex and love. Actor Rob Lowe is an entertaining raconteur whose best-selling first audiobook, Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography, was hailed as "self-deprecatingly funny" (The New York Times) and "thoroughly entertaining" (Time) and earned the author the cover of Vanity Fair. Love Life serves up another delicious selection of intimate stories and observations from Lowe's life, told with humor, warmth, and brutal honesty. After writing his acclaimed debut effort, Lowe felt he had more stories to share and many more friends to introduce. The result is a touching memoir about the business and craft of acting, the pitfalls of success, family, love, and much more. Among the many adventures Lowe describes in Love Life are what it's like in the trenches as both the star and producer of a flop TV show; how a visit, as a 20-year-old, to Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion led to a surprise in the hot tub; how an actor prepares for a role, as well as the practical, boots-on-the-ground details no drama or film school would ever teach you. You'll delight at the hilarious account of the time a major movie star stole his girlfriend, and of coaching a kid's basketball team dominated by omnipresent helicopter parents. The story of coming to terms with his son's departure to college for the education his father never got will touch anyone with a family. Building on Stories I Only Tell My Friends, Love Life is the literary equivalent of returning to a favorite restaurant to savor a completely different, delicious new dish. If you love life, you'll love this audiobook.
©2014 Rob Lowe (P)2014 Simon & Schuster
Humble Pie
Summary
Shortlisted for the British Book Awards, Biography of the Year, 2007.Longlisted for the Audiobook Download of the Year, 2007. This is Gordon Ramsay's autobiography, the first time he has told the full story of how he became the world's most famous and infamous chef. He also discusses his difficult childhood, his brother's heroin addiction, and his failed first career as a footballer.
©2006 Gordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd (P)2006 HarperCollins Publishers, London, UK
Testimony
Summary
New York TImes best seller On the 40th anniversary of The Band's legendary The Last Waltz concert, Robbie Robertson finally tells his own spellbinding story of the band that changed music history, his extraordinary personal journey, and his creative friendships with some of the greatest artists of the last half-century. Robbie Robertson's singular contributions to popular music have made him one of the most beloved songwriters and guitarists of his time. With songs like "The Weight", "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", and "Up on Cripple Creek", he and his partners in The Band fashioned a music that has endured for decades, influencing countless musicians. In this captivating memoir, written over five years of reflection, Robbie Robertson employs his unique storyteller's voice to weave together the journey that led him to some of the most pivotal events in music history. He recounts the adventures of his half-Jewish, half-Mohawk upbringing on the Six Nations Indian Reserve and on the gritty streets of Toronto; his odyssey at 16 to the Mississippi Delta, the fountainhead of American music; the wild early years on the road with rockabilly legend Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks; his unexpected ties to the Cosa Nostra underworld; the gripping trial-by-fire "going electric" with Bob Dylan on his 1966 world tour and their ensuing celebrated collaborations; and the formation of The Band and the forging of their unique sound, culminating with history's most famous farewell concert, brought to life for all time in Martin Scorsese's great movie The Last Waltz. This is the story of a time and place - the moment when rock 'n' roll became life, when legends like Buddy Holly and Bo Diddley crisscrossed the circuit of clubs and roadhouses from Texas to Toronto, when The Beatles, Hendrix, The Stones, and Warhol moved through the same streets and hotel rooms. It's the story of exciting change as the world tumbled through the '60s and early '70s and a generation came of age built on music, love, and freedom. Above all it's the moving story of the profound friendship between five young men who together created a new kind of popular music. Testimony is Robbie Robertson's story, lyrical and true, as only he could tell it.
©2016 Robbie Robertson (P)2016 Random House Audio
Do You Mind If I Cancel?
Summary
"If you love storytelling in the style of David Sedaris, this audiobook - narrated by Janetti himself - is for you." (Yahoo Lifestyle) This program is read by the author. Fans of David Sedaris, Jenny Lawson, and Tina Fey...meet your new friend Gary Janetti. Gary Janetti, the writer and producer for some of the most popular television comedies of all time, and creator of one of the most wickedly funny Instagram accounts there is, now turns his skills into a hilarious, and poignant audiobook chronicling the pains and indignities of everyday life. Gary spends his 20s in New York, dreaming of starring on soap operas while in reality working at a hotel where he lusts after an unattainable colleague and battles a bellman who despises it when people actually use a bell to call him. He chronicles the torture of finding a job before the internet when you had to talk on the phone all the time, and fantasizes, as we all do, about who to tell off when he finally wins an Oscar. As Gary himself says, "These are essays from my childhood and young adulthood about things that still annoy me." Original, brazen, and laugh out loud funny, Do You Mind if I Cancel? is something not to be missed. Praise for Do You Mind If I Cancel?: "Gary Janetti's book is so rolling-on-the-floor funny, so brilliantly observant, and so full of heart." (Kevin Kwan) "The writing of Gary Janetti, whether televised or tweeted, is famously incisive and sharp-tongued. What a revelation it was, therefore, to discover in these revealing personal essays an artist of great tenderness and vulnerability. And he's still funny as hell." (Armistead Maupin) "It’s no surprise that Gary Janetti's book is laugh-out-loud funny. It is just as cutting, wild, and droll as I hoped." (Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times best-selling author of Daisy Jones and the Six)
©2019 Gary Janetti (P)2019 Macmillan Audio
It's a Long Story
Summary
The definitive autobiography of Willie Nelson. This is the unvarnished, complete story of Willie Nelson's life, told in his distinct voice and leaving no moment or experience unturned, from Texas and Nashville to Hawaii and his legendary bus. Having recently turned 80, Nelson is ready to shine a light on all aspects of his life, including his drive to write music, the women in his life, his collaborations, and his biggest lows and highs - from his bankruptcy to the founding of Farm Aid. An American icon who still tours the country and headlines music festivals, Willie Nelson and his music have found their way into the hearts and minds of fans the world over, winning 10 Grammys and receiving the Kennedy Center Honors. Now it's time to hear the last word about his life - from the man himself. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2015 Willie Nelson (P)2015 Hachette Audio
The Rainbow Comes and Goes
Summary
A touching and intimate correspondence between Anderson Cooper and his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, offering timeless wisdom and a revealing glimpse into their lives. Though Anderson Cooper has always considered himself close to his mother, his intensely busy career as a journalist for CNN and CBS affords him little time to spend with her. After she suffers a brief but serious illness at the age of ninety-one, they resolve to change their relationship by beginning a yearlong conversation unlike any they have ever had before. The result is a correspondence of surprising honesty and depth in which they discuss their lives, the things that matter to them, and what they still want to learn about each other. Both a son's love letter to his mother and an unconventional mom's life lessons for her grown son, The Rainbow Comes and Goes offers a rare window into their close relationship and fascinating life stories, including their tragedies and triumphs. In these often humorous and moving exchanges, they share their most private thoughts and the hard-earned truths they've learned along the way. In their words their distinctive personalities shine through - Anderson's journalistic outlook on the world is a sharp contrast to his mother's idealism and unwavering optimism. An appealing memoir with inspirational advice, The Rainbow Comes and Goes is a beautiful and affectionate celebration of the universal bond between a parent and a child and a thoughtful reflection on life, reminding us of the precious insight that remains to be shared, no matter our age.
©2016 Anderson Cooper (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers
If You Ask Me
Summary
It-girl Betty White delivers a hilarious, slyly profound take on love, life, celebrity, and everything in between. Drawing from a lifetime of lessons learned, seven-time Emmy winner Betty White's wit and wisdom take center stage as she tackles topics like friendship, romantic love, aging, television, fans, love for animals, and the brave new world of celebrity. If You Ask Me mixes her thoughtful observations with humorous stories from a seven- decade career in Hollywood. Longtime fans and new fans alike will relish Betty's candid take on everything from her rumored crush on Robert Redford (true) to her beauty regimen ("I have no idea what color my hair is and I never intend to find out") to the Facebook campaign that helped persuade her to host Saturday Night Live despite her having declined the hosting job three times already. Featuring all-new material, with a focus on the past 15 years of her life, If You Ask Me is funny, sweet, and to the point - just like Betty White.
©2011 Betty White (P)2011 Penguin Audio
All We Leave Behind
Summary
An incredible work of non-fiction that reads like a thriller, All We Leave Behind is the true story of a family fleeing the death sentence of a ruthless warlord, written by the journalist who broke all her own rules to get them to safety. In 2002, Carol Off and a CBC TV crew encountered an Afghan man with a story to tell. Asad Aryubwal became a key figure in their documentary on the terrible power of thuggish warlords who were working arm in arm with Americans and NATO troops. When Asad publicly exposed the deeds of one of the warlords, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, it set off a chain of events from which there was no turning back. Asad, his wife, Mobina, and their five children had to flee their home. The family faced an uncertain future. But their dilemma compelled a journalist to cross the lines of disinterested reporting and become deeply involved. Together, they navigated the Byzantine international bureaucracy and the decidedly unwelcoming policies of Stephen Harper's government until the family finally found a new home. Carol Off's powerful account traces not only one family's journey and fraught attempts to immigrate to a safe place; it also illustrates what happens when a journalist becomes irrevocably caught up in the lives of the people in her story and finds herself unable to leave them behind.
©2017 Carol Off (P)2017 Penguin Random House Canada
Live from New York
Summary
When first published to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, Live from New York was immediately proclaimed the best book ever produced on the landmark and legendary late-night show. In their own words, unfiltered and uncensored, a dazzling galaxy of trail-blazing talents recalled three turbulent decades of on-camera antics and off-camera escapades. Now a fourth decade has passed - and best-selling authors James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales have returned to Studio 8H. They raucously and revealingly take the SNL story up to the present, adding a constellation of iconic new stars, surprises, and controversies.
©2002 Thomas W. Shales and Jimmy the Writer, Inc.; material new to the 2014 edition copyright 2014 by Jimmy the Writer, Inc.; preface to the 2015 edition copyright 2015 by Jimmy the Writer, Inc. (P)2017 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Thanks a Lot, Mr. Kibblewhite
Summary
In this audiobook, the frontman of one of the greatest bands of all time tells the story of his rise from nothing to rock 'n' roll megastar, and his wild journey as the voice of The Who. “It’s taken me three years to unpack the events of my life, to remember who did what when and why, to separate the myths from the reality, to unravel what really happened at the Holiday Inn on Keith Moon’s 21st birthday,” says Roger Daltrey, the powerhouse vocalist of The Who. The result of this introspection is a remarkable memoir, instantly captivating, funny and frank, chock-full of well-earned wisdom and one-of-kind anecdotes from a raucous life that spans a tumultuous time of change in Britain and America. Born during the air bombing of London in 1944, Daltrey fought his way (literally) through school and poverty and began to assemble the band that would become The Who while working at a sheet metal factory in 1961. In Daltrey’s voice, the familiar stories - how they got into smashing up their kit, the infighting, Keith Moon’s antics - take on a new, intimate life. Also here is the creative journey through the unforgettable hits including "My Generation", "Substitute", and "Pinball Wizard" and the great albums Who’s Next, Tommy, and Quadrophenia. Amidst all the music and mayhem, the drugs, the premature deaths, the ruined hotel rooms, Roger is our perfect narrator, remaining sober (relatively) and observant and determined to make The Who bigger and bigger. Not only his personal story, this is the definitive biography of The Who.
©2018 Roger Daltrey (P)2018 Bonnier Publishing
Girl Walks into a Bar...
Summary
In this side-splitting memoir, the former Saturday Night Live star recounts the hilarious adventures and unexpected joy of dating and becoming a mother when she least expected it - at the age of 44. Anyone who saw an episode of Saturday Night Live between 1999 and 2006 knows Rachel Dratch. She was hilarious! So what happened to her? After a misbegotten part as Jenna on the pilot of 30 Rock, Dratch was only getting offered roles as "Lesbians. Secretaries. Sometimes secretaries who are lesbians." Her career at a low point, Dratch suddenly had time for yoga, dog-sitting, learning Spanish - and dating. After all, what did a forty-something single woman living in New York have to lose? Resigned to childlessness but still hoping for romance, Dratch was out for drinks with a friend when she met John. Handsome and funny, after only six months of dating long-distance, he became the inadvertent father of her wholly unplanned, undreamed-of child and moved to New York to be a dad. With riotous humor, Dratch recounts breaking the news to her bewildered parents, the awe of her single friends, and the awkwardness of a baby-care class where the instructor kept tossing out the f-word. Filled with great behind-the-scenes anecdotes from Dratch's time on SNL, Girl Walks into a Bar is a refreshing version of the "happily ever after" story that proves female comics - like best sellers Tina Fey and Chelsea Handler - are truly having their moment.
©2012 Rachel Dratch (P)2012 Penguin Audio
God, If You're Not up There, I'm F*cked
Summary
Tina Fey’s Bossypants meets David Carr’s The Night of the Gun in Darrell Hammond's groundbreaking memoir, God, If You’re Not up There, I’m F*cked - a raw look inside the troubled life and mind of an American comic genius. By turns poignant and hilarious, Hammond takes listeners from the set of Saturday Night Live, where he was the show’s longest tenured cast member, to the drug-ridden streets of Harlem and into the twisting corridors of his own unflaggingly humorous consciousness. Mingling behind-the-scenes stories from television’s best loved comedy series with a dark look inside a world-class funnyman, God, If You’re Not up There, I’m F*cked is a book sure to resonate with anyone who shares a talent for performance, a love of comedy, or a desire to know how an artist can climb from the deepest despair to the very top of his profession. To hear Hammond tell stories from the book, live from New York’s Comedy Cellar, check out That’s Clinton!, also available on Audible.
©2011 Darrell Hammond (P)2018 Audible, Inc.
I'm Just a Person
Summary
One of America's most original comedic voices delivers a darkly funny, wryly observed, and emotionally raw account of her year of death, cancer, and epiphany. In the span of four months in 2012, Tig Notaro was hospitalized for a debilitating intestinal disease called C. diff, her mother unexpectedly died, she went through a breakup, and then she was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer. Hit with this devastating barrage, Tig took her grief onstage. Days after receiving her cancer diagnosis, she broke new comedic ground, opening an unvarnished set with the words, "Good evening. Hello. I have cancer. How are you? Hi, how are you? Is everybody having a good time? I have cancer." The set went viral instantly and was ultimately released as Tig's sophomore album, Live, which sold 100,000 units in just six weeks and was later nominated for a Grammy. Now the wildly popular star takes stock of that no good, very bad year - a difficult yet astonishing period in which tragedy turned into absurdity and despair transformed into joy. An inspired combination of the deadpan silliness of her comedy and the openhearted vulnerability that has emerged in the wake of that dire time, I'm Just a Person is a moving and often hilarious look at this very brave, very funny woman's journey into the darkness and her thrilling return from it.
©2016 Tig Notaro (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers