Freda Foh Shen has narrated 2 audiobooks on Listento.it by 9 authors. The most-rated is Selected Shorts: American Classics.
Big Breasts and Wide Hips
Summary
Winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature. In his latest novel, Mo Yan—arguably China’s most important contemporary literary voice—recreates the historical sweep and earthy exuberance of his much acclaimed novel Red Sorghum. In a country where patriarchal favoritism and the primacy of sons survived multiple revolutions and an ideological earthquake, this epic novel is first and foremost about women, with the female body serving as the book’s central metaphor. The protagonist, Mother, is born in 1900 and married at seventeen into the Shangguan family. She has nine children, only one of whom is a boy—the narrator of the book. A spoiled and ineffectual child, he stands in stark contrast to his eight strong and forceful female siblings. Mother, a survivor, is the quintessential strong woman who risks her life to save several of her children and grandchildren. The writing is picturesque, bawdy, shocking, and imaginative. The structure draws on the essentials of classical Chinese formalism and injects them with extraordinarily raw and surprising prose. Each of the seven chapters represents a different time period, from the end of the Qing dynasty up through the Japanese invasion in the 1930s, the civil war, the Cultural Revolution, and the post-Mao years. This stunning novel is Mo Yan’s searing vision of twentieth-century China.
©1996 Mo Yan. English-language translation copyright 2004, 2012 by Howard Goldblatt (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
Selected Shorts: American Classics
Summary
A compilation of classic tales by great American writers performed by terrific actors, with a lineup including Pulitzer Prize winners, National Book Award winners, and PEN Award winners. Amy Tan's "Rules of the Game", performed by Freda Foh Shen. A strict Chinese mother bedevils her chess prodigy daughter. Donald Barthelme's "Game", performed by David Strathairn. Playing cosmic chicken in a nuclear bunker. Eudora Welty's "Why I Live at the P.O.", performed by Stockard Channing. Hilarious story of an independent young woman striking out on her own. Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" performed by René Auberjonois. Terrifyingly delicious Poe masterpiece. Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" performed by Christine Baranski. Sly, creepy tale of a teenage girl’s seduction by a dangerous drifter. John Sayles' "At the Anarchists’ Convention", performed by Jerry Stiller. Laugh-out-loud classic. Alice Walker's "Everyday Use", performed by Carmen de Lavallade. Siblings disagree about a precious piece of their family heritage. John Cheever's "Christmas Is a Sad Season for the Poor", performed by Malachy McCourt. A high-rise elevator operator is overwhelmed by his riders’ holiday generosity.
©2010 Symphony Space (P)2010 Symphony Space