Norman Dietz has narrated 66 audiobooks on Listento.it by 54 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.6★ across 408 ratings. The most-rated is One Man's Wilderness.
One Man's Wilderness
Summary
To live in a pristine land unchanged by man... to roam a wilderness through which few other humans have passed... to choose an idyllic site, cut trees and build a log cabin... to be a self-sufficient craftsman, making what is needed from materials available... to be not at odds with the world but content with one's own thoughts and company. Thousands have had such dreams, but Richard Proenneke lived them. He found a place, built a cabin, and stayed to become part of the country. One Man's Wilderness is a simple account of the day-to-day explorations and activities he carried out alone, and the constant chain of nature's events that kept him company. From Proenneke's journals, and with first-hand knowledge of his subject and the setting, Sam Keith has woven a tribute to a man who carved his masterpiece out of the beyond.
©1999 Alaska Northwest Books (P)2010 Tantor
The Grasshopper Trap
Summary
Often compared to Garrison Keillor and Mark Twain, Patrick F. McManus maintains just the right balance between baffled innocence and conspiratorial confidence. Since 1979, this humorist has been delighting readers with hilarious stories recounting his childhood in rural Idaho and relating his misadventures in the great outdoors. Whether you're a sportsman or a couch potato, he will have you laughing out loud at his escapades. In this collection of 30 tall tales, McManus introduces you to the perils of Trailer Trials and Mean Tents. Like Hemingway, McManus hunts the big fish in "Down and Way Out in Brazil". The title tale, "The Grasshopper Trap", unveils an ingenious invention for catching fish bait in motion. And in "Hunting Camp Etiquette", McManus becomes a rustic Miss Manners. Narrator Norman Dietz adds additional spice to each impish line. You won't want to miss the other audio productions of McManus' works, including Never Sniff a Gift Fish and The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw.
©1989 Patrick F. McManus (P)2000 Recorded Books, LLC
The Good Samaritan Strikes Again
Summary
Let the world's funniest sportsman tickle your funny bone with quirky homespun stories and whimsical perspectives on life. Patrick F. McManus gently pokes fun at the oddities of sacred institutions like friendship, marriage, and even hunting and fishing. Soon his crazy theories start making sense, and you know you've crossed the border into McManus country, where life is a little lighter - and much more amusing. McManus initiates you into his world with intimate tales of cub scout pranks, high-school football rituals, and other rites of passage. He conveys an appealing sense of old-fashioned innocence that allows you to see the humor in modern life.Narrator Norman Dietz's comic genius brings out the full flavor of McManus' unique style. With Dietz's narration, you'll feel you're sitting in a patio chair, with a can of "beverage" and box of cigars, swapping stories with a buddy.
©1992 Patrick F. McManus (P)1999 Recorded Books, LLC
The Last Days of the Incas
Summary
In 1532, the 54-year-old Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro led a force of 167 men, including his four brothers, to the shores of Peru. Unbeknownst to the Spaniards, the Inca rulers of Peru had just fought a bloody civil war in which the emperor Atahualpa had defeated his brother, Huascar. Pizarro and his men soon clashed with Atahualpa and a huge force of Inca warriors at the Battle of Cajamarca. Despite being outnumbered by more than 200 to one, the Spaniards prevailed - due largely to their horses, their steel armor and swords, and their tactic of surprise. They captured and imprisoned Atahualpa. Although the Inca emperor paid an enormous ransom in gold, the Spaniards executed him anyway. The following year, the Spaniards seized the Inca capital of Cuzco, completing their conquest of the largest native empire the New World has ever known. Peru was now a Spanish colony, and the conquistadors were wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. But the Incas did not submit willingly. A young Inca emperor, the brother of Atahualpa, soon led a massive rebellion against the Spaniards, inflicting heavy casualties and nearly wiping out the conquerors. Eventually, however, Pizarro and his men forced the emperor to abandon the Andes and flee to the Amazon. There, he established a hidden capital, called Vilcabamba. Although the Incas fought a deadly, 36-year-long guerrilla war, the Spanish ultimately captured the last Inca emperor and vanquished the native resistance. Kim MacQuarrie lived in Peru for five years and became fascinated by the Incas and the history of the Spanish conquest. Drawing on both native and Spanish chronicles, he vividly describes the dramatic story of the conquest, with all its savagery and suspense.
©2007 Kim MacQuarrie (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.
Younger Next Year for Women
Summary
With the New York Times best-selling Younger Next Year, coauthors Crowley and Lodge showed countless men how to change their lives to achieve peak fitness and live longer, healthier, happier lives. Now they are back with an equally insightful, important, and, at times, downright hilarious version for women.
©2005 Henry S. Lodge; 2005 Christopher Crowley (P)2005 Recorded Books LLC
How I Got This Way
Summary
Grab your fishing net and hold onto your funny-bone; you're in for a hilarious romp through the woods with best-selling funnyman Patrick McManus. How I Got This Way is a rib-tickling collection of stories about the outdoors guaranteed to leave you chuckling. Join McManus and his pals on a venture into the Idaho wilderness that includes taking a hike with - ahem - the president of the United States.
©1994 Patrick F. McManus (P)1995 Recorded Books, LLC
Never Sniff a Gift Fish
Summary
Humorist Patrick F. McManus has been called "a master at spoofing sportsmen" by Publishers Weekly. His rib-tickling books about hunting, fishing, and camping receive rave reviews from national media. The New York Times Book Review writes, "Everybody should read Patrick McManus." In the chapters of Never Sniff a Gift Fish, McManus will teach you the wisdom that is usually shared only in the close ranks of modern-day hunters and gatherers. To complete your arsenal, McManus also includes "The Hunter's Workout Guide" and a special "Family Camper's Dictionary". Exercises like the hindquarter shuffle will make you move like a hunter. And phrases like "Yip-yip-yip-Owoooooo!" will help you sound like one, too. Whether he's poking fun at fly fishing or taking on some other sportsman's icon, Patrick F. McManus is sure to have you laughing aloud. And Norman Dietz's wry narration is the perfect vehicle for McManus' best-selling, tongue-in-cheek works.
©1983 Patrick F. McManus (P)2000 Recorded Books, LLC
Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln
Summary
Ever wish you could captivate your boardroom with the opening line of your presentation, like Winston Churchill in his most memorable speeches? Or want to command attention by looming larger than life before your audience, much like Abraham Lincoln when, standing erect and wearing a top hat, he towered over seven feet? Now, you can master presentation skills, wow your audience, and shoot up the corporate ladder by unlocking the secrets of history's greatest speakers. Author, historian, and world-renowned speaker James C. Humes - who wrote speeches for five American presidents - explains how great leaders through the ages used simple yet incredibly effective tricks to speak, persuade, and win throngs of fans and followers. In this book, you'll discover how Napoleon Bonaparte mastered the use of the pregnant pause to grab attention, how Lady Margaret Thatcher punctuated her most serious speeches with the use of subtle props, how Ronald Reagan could win even the most hostile crowd with carefully timed wit, and much, much more. Whether you're addressing a small nation or a large staff meeting, you'll want to master the tips and tricks in Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln.
©2002 James C. Humes (P)2011 Tantor
Rubber Legs and White Tail-Hairs
Summary
America's most hilarious sportsman returns with this collection of insights about youth, the great outdoors, and the philosophy of fileting fish. When best-selling author Patrick McManus looks at a subject, you're sure to come away with an outrageously new perspective. In "Muldoon in Love" McManus examines how third-grade crushes can have a disastrous effect on show-and-tell. In "The Big Fix" he explores the insidious relationship between women and flat tires. In "What's in a Name, Moonbeam?" he welcomes into the world a new grandchi ... er ... a new small relative. Norman Dietz's droll narration of these and two dozen more adventures by the author of How I Got This Way and The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw will have listeners - and maybe even a wolf or two - howling.
©1987 Patrick F. McManus (P)2000 Recorded Books, LLC
A Voyage for Madmen
Summary
In 1968, nine sailors set off on the most daring race ever held: to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe nonstop. It was a feat that had never been accomplished and one that would forever change the face of sailing. Ten months later, only one of the nine men would cross the finish line and earn fame, wealth, and glory. For the others, the reward was madness, failure, and death. In this extraordinary book, Peter Nichols chronicles a contest of the individual against the sea, waged at a time before cell phones, satellite dishes, and electronic positioning systems. A Voyage for Madmen is a tale of sailors driven by their own dreams and demons, of horrific storms in the Southern Ocean, and of those riveting moments when a split-second decision means the difference between life and death.
©2001 Peter Nichols (P)2017 Tantor
The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw
Summary
Patrick McManus, author of How I Got This Way and one of America's favorite humorists, is an impish commentator on the obvious and not so obvious absurdities of modern life. His national best seller, The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw, is a collection of hilarious short pieces about fishing, its exotic equipment, and activities like "gunkholing." You will learn, for example, that the best way to learn to fish is to build an addition to your house first. It should be big enough to hold all the nifty fishing equipment you will cart home from sporting goods stores and garage sales. McManus cheerfully guides you through the finer points of becoming a skilled garage-sale shopper, too. Be prepared to enter a quixotic universe that works according to the laws of "synch" and marvelously loopy chains of cause and effect. The title selection takes place on an ill-fated camping trip; other selections include "Kid Brothers and Their Practical Application", and "As the Worm Squirms".
©1989 Patrick F. McManus (P)1996 Recorded Books, LLC
The Bear in the Attic
Summary
The beloved humorist and bestselling author returns with his most riotous collection of essays to date. Starting with his trademark outdoorsman's wit, Patrick F. McManus's newest collection ponders the strange allure of the RV, the existential implications of being lost, the baffling tendency of animals to outsmart those who wish to hunt them, and the singular pleasure of doubling the size of every fish one doesn't actually catch. Combining the curmudgeonly voice of Dave Barry and the innocent tone of Garrison Keillor, McManus brilliantly captures the everyday absurdities that comprise our existence. Alongside his humor, McManus's inimitable vision consistently evokes a childlike wonder at the natural world. Even if we are running low on food, the compass is broken, and we are fairly certain we have just spotted a family of Sasquatches frolicking in the treetops, The Bear in the Attic makes the outdoors seem wildly irresistible.
©2002 Patrick F. McManus (P)2002 Macmillan Audio
The Old Man and the Boy
Summary
This classic captures the endearing relationship between a man and his grandson as they fish and hunt the lakes and woods of North Carolina. All the while the Old Man acts as teacher and guide, passing on his wisdom and life experiences to the boy, who listens in rapt fascination.
©1957 Robert C. Ruark (P)2017 Tantor
Human Smoke
Summary
Human Smoke delivers a closely textured, deeply moving indictment of the treasured myths that have romanticized much of the 1930s and '40s. Incorporating meticulous research and well-documented sources---including newspaper and magazine articles, radio speeches, memoirs, and diaries---the book juxtaposes hundreds of interrelated moments of decision, brutality, suffering, and mercy. Vivid glimpses of political leaders and their dissenters illuminate and examine the gradual, horrifying advance toward overt global war and Holocaust.Praised by critics and readers alike for his exquisitely observant eye and deft, inimitable prose, Baker has assembled a narrative within Human Smoke that unfolds gracefully, tragically, and persuasively. This is an unforgettable book that makes a profound impact on our perceptions of historical events and mourns the unthinkable loss humanity has borne at its own hand.
©2008 Nicholson Baker (P)2008 Tantor
Think
Summary
This is an audiobook about the big questions in life: knowledge, consciousness, fate, God, truth, goodness, justice. It is for anyone who believes there are big questions out there, but does not know how to approach them. Think sets out to explain what they are and why they are important. Simon Blackburn begins by putting forward a convincing case for the study of philosophy and goes on to give the listener a sense of how the great historical figures such as Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Wittgenstein have approached its central themes. Each chapter explains a major issue, and gives the listener a self-contained guide through the problems that philosophers have studied. The large scope of topics covered range from skepticism, the self, mind and body, and freedom to ethics and the arguments surrounding the existence of God. Lively and approachable, this audiobook is ideal for all those who want to learn how the basic techniques of thinking shape our existence.
©1999 Simon Blackburn (P)2014 Audible Inc.
Mind of the Raven
Summary
Bernd Heinrich involves us in his quest to get inside the mind of the raven. But as animals can be spied on only by getting quite close, Heinrich adopts ravens, thereby becoming a "raven father", as well as observing them in their natural habitat. He studies their daily routines and, in the process, paints a vivid picture of the ravens' world. At the heart of this book are Heinrich's love and respect for these complex and engaging creatures, and through his keen observation and analysis we become their intimates, too. Heinrich's passion for ravens has led him around the world in his research. Mind of the Raven follows an exotic journey - from New England to Germany, and from Montana to Baffin Island in the High Arctic - offering dazzling accounts of how science works in the field, filtered through the eyes of a passionate observer of nature. Each new discovery and insight into raven behavior is thrilling, at once lyrical and scientific.
©1999 Bernd Heinrich (P)2016 Tantor
Steel Boat Iron Hearts
Summary
Using his own experiences, log books, and correspondence with other U-boat crewmen, Hans Goebeler offers rich and personal details about what life was like in the German Navy under Hitler. Since his first and last posting was to U-505, Goebeler's perspective of the crew, commanders, and war patrols paints a vivid and complete portrait unlike any other to come out of the Kriegsmarine. He witnessed it all, from deadly sabotage efforts that almost sunk the boat to the tragic suicide of the only U-boat commander who took his life during World War II. The vivid, honest, and smooth-flowing prose calls it like it was and pulls no punches. U-505 was captured by Captain Dan Gallery's Guadalcanal Task Group 22.3 on June 4, 1944. Trapped by this "hunter-killer" group, U-505 was depth-charged to the surface, strafed by machine gun fire, and boarded. It was the first ship captured at sea since the War of 1812. Today, hundreds of thousands of visitors tour U-505 each year at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. This edition includes a special foreword by Keith Gill, curator of U-505 at the Museum of Science and Industry.
©2008 Hans Jacob Goebeler and John Vanzo (P)2016 Tantor
The Richest Man Who Ever Lived
Summary
Jacob Fugger lived in Germany at the turn of the 16th century, the grandson of a peasant. By the time he died, his fortune amounted to nearly 2 percent of European GDP. Not even John D. Rockefeller had that kind of wealth. Most people become rich by spotting opportunities, pioneering new technologies, or besting opponents in negotiations. Fugger did all that, but he had an extra quality that allowed him to rise even higher: nerve. In an era when kings had unlimited power, Fugger had the nerve to stare down heads of state and ask them to pay back their loans - with interest. It was this coolness and self-assurance, along with his inexhaustible ambition, that made him not only the richest man ever but a force of history as well. Fugger helped trigger the Reformation and likely funded Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe. The ultimate untold story, The Richest Man Who Ever Lived is more than a tale about the richest and most influential businessman of all time. It is a story about palace intrigue, knights in battle, family tragedy and triumph, and a violent clash between the 1 percent and everybody else.
©2015 Greg Steinmetz (P)2015 Tantor
Real Ponies Don't Go Oink!
Summary
You don't have to be a hunter or camper to enjoy this collection of hilarious stories by a writer who is often compared to Mark Twain and Garrison Keillor. In fact, the charm of Patrick F. McManus' work is that it provides plenty of reasons for staying indoors, surrounded by friendly appliances. You'll laugh aloud as McManus and his friends, including Rancid and Crazy Eddie, venture into the great outdoors to face formidable foes like truck campers, tackle boxes, and boat engines. Digging into his vast knapsack of anecdotes, McManus offers them as guides for the bumpier trails of life. Although his stories are wacky, McManus never resorts to profanity or crudity, even when he is considering Teenagers from Hell or Strange Meets Matilda Jean. Narrator Norman Dietz perfectly captures the baffled lunacy that characterizes these reminiscences and quests for the sportsman's perfect moment.
©1991 Patrick F. McManus (P)2000 Recorded Books, LLC
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
Summary
In his second collection, including the iconic and much-referenced title story featured in the Academy Award-winning film Birdman, Raymond Carver establishes his reputation as one of the most celebrated short-story writers in American literature. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love is a haunting meditation on love, loss, and companionship, and finding one's way through the dark.
©1981 Raymond Carver (P)2017 Tantor