Picture of Dorian Gray is now available as an online downloadable audio book.

“Simon Vance’s portrayal of each character is spot-on….a delightfully creepy listen.”—AudioFile

Dorian Gray, a handsome and narcissistic young man, lives thoughtlessly for his own pleasure—an attitude encouraged by the company he keeps. One day, after having his portrait painted, Dorian makes a frivolous Faustian wish: that he should always remain as young and beautiful as he is in that painting, while the portrait grows old in his stead.

The wish comes true, and Dorian soon finds that none of his wicked actions have visible consequences. Realizing that he will appear fresh and unspoiled no matter what kind of life he lives, Dorian becomes increasingly corrupt, unchecked by public opinion. Only the portrait grows degenerate and ugly, a powerful symbol of Dorian’s internal ruin.

Wilde’s dreamlike exploration of life without limits scandalized its late-Victorian audience and has haunted readers’ imaginations for more than a hundred years.

Movie DVD starring Colin Firth, Ben Barnes and Rachel Hurd-Wood releases summer 2010.

Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond Classics, Goldfinger, Casino Royale,The Man with the Golden Gun, Moonraker, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, and many more.

“A rich life story is matched with an ideal reader. Andrew Lycett’s literate, well researched biography of Ian Fleming…is an absorbing account of one of the most fascinating figures of popular culture. Lycett’s sure grasp of the Bond novels also allows him to refer to pertinent and familiar scenes that reflect Fleming’s many travels and earlier experiences. Robert Whitfield narrates the text in clear, crisp BBC English…. [The] story is served well by a reader whose performance connotes a patrician equanimity and style.”—AudioFile “A thoroughly researched, definitive portrayal of a complex man…. Lycett has also succeeded in separating the author from the phenomenon while putting both in the context of their times.”—Library Journal Sportsman, womanizer, naval commander, world traveler, and spy, the creator of the Cold War’s archetypal secret agent was infinitely more complex and interesting than his iconic fictional character, Agent 007. Fleming’s wide ranging and exciting life inevitably provided the plausible backdrop for his Bond novels. Highly regarded in British naval intelligence for his international contacts, he masterminded numerous top secret operations, including “Golden Eye,” which is uncovered here for the first time. He was also fundamental in shaping the prototype CIA. Two months before his wedding to Ann O’Neill, the widow of a friend with whom he’d carried on a passionate affair for fifteen years, Fleming sat down to write his first book, Casino Royale, in order to soothe his nerves. Thus began the long line of Bond novels for which he would earn lasting fame.

Andrew Lycett received a history degree from Oxford University before becoming a journalist at the Sunday Times (London), where he served as a foreign correspondent in Africa and the Middle East. He has written acclaimed biographies on Ian Fleming, Dylan Thomas, Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, Muammar al-Gaddafi, and Rudyard Kipling. He lives in London.

For the first time, Ulysses by James Joyce is now available as an MP3 audiobook download.

This masterpiece by the Dublin author is narrated by John Lee and is more than 29 hours long.

Joyce’s experimental masterpiece set a new standard for modernist fiction, pushing the English language past all previous thresholds in its quest to capture a day in the life of an Everyman in turn-of-the-century Dublin. Obliquely borrowing characters and situations from Homer’s Odyssey, Joyce takes us on an internal odyssey along the current of thoughts, impressions, and experiences that make up the adventure of living an average day. As his characters stroll, eat, ruminate, and argue through the streets of Dublin, Joyce’s stream-of-consciousness narrative artfully weaves events, emotions, and memories in a free flow of imagery and associations. Full of literary references, parody, and uncensored vulgarity, Ulysses has been considered controversial and challenging, but always brilliant and rewarding.   James Joyce (1882–1941) was an Irish expatriate writer, widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. He is best known for his landmark novel Ulysses and its highly controversial successor Finnegans Wake, as well as the short-story collection Dubliners and the semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Here are a number of interesting drama articles written by various authors.

perry mason

Remember Perry Mason, the attorney who always got a conviction, played by Raymond Burr.  The black and white television series ran from 1957 until 1966 and covered 270 episodes.  They were based on the who dunnit books written by Erle Stanley Gardner. The television production usually started with the scene of a murder, and generally finished with a court scene where Perry Mason would inevitably get a conviction and the episode would end with a smart or humourous remark from Perry. And we must not forget Perry’s able assistant Della Street played by Barbara Hale.
Now, the good news is that the Colonial Radio Theatre has started to release episodes from the Perry Mason series in audio book format. The first episode is called The Case of the Sulky Girl and is a 1 hour 55 minute MP3 download. This means that you can relive these famous court cases when driving to work or outdoors, taking a walk.

Of her career and upbringing, Burns once said, “It has been said that growing up in the South and becoming a writer is like spending your life riding in a wagon, seated in a chair that is always facing backwards. I don’t face life looking backwards, but I have written about past times and past people.”

Tales of the past make up Cold Sassy Tree, and Burns models these tales on stories from her own life. Although Cold Sassy Tree is not a biographical account of Burns’s own family, Burns draws upon the colorful history and idiosyncrasies of her father and his family to evoke Georgia at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Read the full extract at Sparknotes.
More about Cold Sassy Tree which is now available in audio books format.

William Shakespeare

The most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a -successful middle-class glove-maker in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare attended grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further. In 1582 he married an older woman, Anne Hathaway, and had three children with her. Around 1590 he left his family behind and traveled to London to work as an actor and playwright. Public and critical success quickly followed, and Shakespeare eventually became the most popular playwright in England and part-owner of the Globe Theate.
Author of King Lear…
Read more at Sparknotes.

Not Easily Broken

Publisher : Hachette Audio
Author : T.D. Jakes
Narrator : Pamala Tyson

Length : 6 hours (Abridged)

Bishop T. D. Jakes tells a powerful story of destruction and restoration. Through Dave and Clarice Johnson, he offers insight into the issues many relationships face.

Dave and Clarice Johnson are a professional couple who think they are realizing the American dream until their lives come to a screeching halt after a car accident. Their marriage is tested as the aftermath brings unanticipated changes and reveals unexplored problems in their relationship.

The Johnsons’ struggle to overcome personal disappointments and unrealized expectations is at the center of the discord in their home. This becomes painfully obvious as Clarice and Dave come face-to-face with the differences that exist between them. Strife mounts as they realize how much they diverge in their opinions of what it means to be successful and to live a meaningful life.

Adding insult to injury, the presence of Clarice’s therapist. Julie, and the mentoring relationship between Julie’s son and Dave create strife that could destroy the Johnsons’ marriage.

As Clarice and Dave learn the importance of promises made and kept. God speaks to them in the most unlikely places.

PAMALA TYSON, has appeared in the films Last Dance, Seven, and What’s Love Got To Do With It. Her extensive television credits include Crossing Jordan, Will & Grace, JAG, The Shield, Touched By An Angel, and Any Day Now. She has worked throughout regional theatre, as well as, Off Broadway and received an Obie Award for her distinguished work in Imperceptible Mutabilities in The Third Kingdom

T. D. Jakes. One of the world’s most widely recognized pastors, is the bestselling author of Woman, Thou Art Loosed!. Cover Girls, and sixteen other popular books. He has inspired millions through his speaking tours, and his television show. The Potter’s Touch, airs weekly on Trinity Broadcast Network. The senior pastor of The Potter’s House, a multiracial, non denominational church, Bishop Jakes lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife and five children.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox.

    
Publisher :  Blackstone Audio Inc
Author :  Maggie O’Farrell
Narrator :  Anne Flosnik
 
Length :  7 hours 19 minutes (Unabridged)
 

“An intricate, eloquent novel of family malice, longings, and betrayal. O’Farrell maintains a high level of tension throughout, and the conclusion is devastating.”

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“O’Farrell’s fourth novel brilliantly illustrates her talent for gradually revealing her characters’ inner lives….A gripping read with superbly crafted scenes that will blaze in the reader’s memory long after the novel is returned to the shelf.”

Booklist

Iris Lockhart is stunned to learn that a great aunt whom she never knew existed is being released from an institute where she has been locked away for years. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit?
 

Category Audio Drama

Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls: An Audio Melodrama in Three Despicable Acts

The movie based on this classic was released December 21, 2007. Directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp.

According to legend, Sweeney Todd had his barber shop at number 186 Fleet Street, next door to St. Dunstan’s Church, just a few blocks away from the Royal Courts of Justice. On this site, they say, he robbed and murdered more than 150 customers. To dispose of their remains, he carried them through underground tunnels to the bakery of one Mrs. Lovett a few blocks away, where they supplied the stuffing for her meat pies, the favorite mid-day repast of the lawyers who worked nearby and got their shaves from Sweeney Todd. The man you lunched with yesterday could be your lunch today! The story first appeared in 1846 as a best-selling “penny dreadful,” a sensational thriller published in installments. Before the final chapters even had a chance to hit the stands, the first stage version was packing them in at the Royal Britannia Saloon. Since then there have been numerous stage and literary versions of the story. This script has been specially commissioned by Blackstone Audio, Inc., based on the original sources of the tale.