Showing results by narrator "Geoffrey Giuliano" in All Categories

1984 centers on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of persons and behaviors within society. Orwell modeled the totalitarian government in the novel after Stalinist Russia. More broadly, the novel examines the role of truth and facts within politics and the ways in which they are manipulated. The story takes place in an imagined future, the year 1984 when much of the world has fallen victim to perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, historical negationism, and propaganda.

Bob Dylan is one of the most influential and celebrated musicians of all time, and as he turns 80 years old, his legacy and impact on the music industry are as strong as ever. Throughout his long and storied career, Dylan has made significant contributions to music and popular culture that have earned him a place among the greatest artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.

"The Watsons" is a story about a family of four sisters and their relationships and interactions with each other and with the people in their community. The main character is Emma Watson, who has been raised by a wealthy aunt and is now returning home to live with her father and stepmother. The novel explores themes of social class, family dynamics, and courtship. Although the novel is unfinished, it still offers valuable insights into Austen's writing style and the themes that are present in her completed works.

Emma tells the story of Emma Woodhouse, a wealthy and beautiful young woman who enjoys matchmaking in her small town. However, Emma's efforts to find love for others often lead to unintended consequences, and she learns important lessons about the dangers of meddling and the importance of humility. Along the way, Emma must confront her own flaws and biases, and reassess her relationships with the people in her life, including her close friend Mr. Knightley. The novel explores themes of social class, gender roles, and the importance of self-awareness in one's personal growth.

This audiobook is an introduction to the life and works of Jane Austen and will provide a glimpse into her world and the literary legacy she left behind.

"Love and Friendship" is a short epistolary novel by Jane Austen, written in 1790, when Austen was just 14 years old. The story is told through a series of letters between the characters, primarily the protagonist, Laura, and her close friend, Isabel. The novel is a satirical take on the romantic fiction of the time, with Laura's escapades and misadventures serving as a critique of the societal norms of the day. The story follows Laura's attempts to navigate the social scene and find a suitable husband, which leads to a series of humorous and ridiculous situations.

With clear logic and entertaining dialogues, the author presents many reasons for a vegetarian rather than a “flesh-eating” diet, and his arguments for not eating meat are as compelling today as when they were written.

"The Secret Agent" is a novel written by Joseph Conrad, and published in 1907. The story is set in London in the late nineteenth century and revolves around a group of anarchists and their plot to detonate a bomb at Greenwich Observatory. The novel explores themes such as terrorism, politics, morality, and betrayal. The novel's protagonist is Adolf Verloc, a seemingly unremarkable man who owns a small shop selling pornographic materials. However, he is also a secret agent working for an unnamed foreign embassy.

Up from Slavery is the 1901 autobiography of Booker T. Washington, sharing his personal experience of having to work to rise up from the position of a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton Institute, to his work establishing the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama to help black people learn useful, marketable skills and work to pull themselves up by the bootstraps. He reflects on the generosity of both teachers and philanthropists who helped in educating blacks and Native Americans.

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story of Quasimodo, the Romani street dancer Esmeralda and Quasimodo's guardian, the Archdeacon Claude Frollo in 15th-century Paris.

Winnie-the-Pooh also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh, and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner.

There comes a time in the course of battle when a participant casts his fate to the gods of war, and carries on without question, the task at hand. Living, dying, right or wrong, can be contemplated later. The spirit of the bayonet takes over and carries the youth through the crucible of battle to emerge a short time later several ages older. Stephen Crane's classic novel gives us a glimpse into the mind of a young soldier as he passes through the experience he will never be able to forget, and possibly awaken him from his slumber in a sweat and panic for years to come.

The Turn of the Screw is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in Collier's Weekly. In October 1898, it was collected in The Two Magics, published by Macmillan in New York City and Heinemann in London.

The Valley of Fear is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. It is loosely based on the Molly Maguires and Pinkerton agent James McParland. The story was first published in Strand Magazine between September 1914 and May 1915. The first book edition was copyrighted in 1914, and it was first published by George H. Doran Company in New York on 27 February 1915, and illustrated by Arthur I. Keller.

When a young lady approaches Sherlock Holmes looking for help in finding out what happened to her father when he disappeared 10 years earlier, both Holmes and Watson are sent on a mission involving stolen treasure, service in colonial India, and a secret pact among four ex-convicts.

This is the best of Emerson's later works, qualifying his earlier popular essays, series one and two, with the heavier hand of experience. The Conduct of Life ostensibly is a set of essays about how to live life but also is an amalgam of what life taught Emerson. Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803-April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century.

In this dynamic, hard-hitting audiobook, music biographer Geoffrey Giuliano examines the turbulent life and times of Elvis Presley. With an in-depth, insightful narration by the author as well as rare, archival, unheard interviews. Here is the perfect collection celebrating the king of rock for every dedicated fan, music historian, the media as well as all school, library, institutional, and university collections.

Few names cast more terror into the human heart than Dracula. The legendary vampire, created by author Bram Stoker for his 1897 novel of the same name, has inspired countless horror movies, television shows, and other bloodcurdling tales of vampires. Though Dracula may seem to many like a singular creation, Stoker in fact drew inspiration from a real-life man with an even more grotesque taste for blood: Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia or—as he is better known—Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Tepes), a name earned for his favorite way of dispensing with his enemies.

A Room with a View is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the restrained culture of Edwardian-era England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a humorous critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century. Merchant Ivory produced an award-winning film adaptation in 1985.

White Fang is a novel by American author Jack London and the name of the book's eponymous character, a wild wolfdog. First serialized in Outing magazine between May and October 1906, it was published in book form in October 1906. The story details White Fang's journey to domestication in Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush. It is a companion novel (and a thematic mirror) to London's best-known work, The Call of the Wild (1903), which is about a kidnapped domesticated dog embracing his wild ancestry to survive and thrive in the wild.