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Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules Audiobook
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(3.01) - 4,130 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
A must-have for the fans of the #1 bestselling author of Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris, a collection of his favorite short fiction from Flannery O'Connor to Tobias Wolff.
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories-some classic, others impending-selected and introduced by David Sedaris.
With this audiobook a careful listener can discover the truth about loneliness, betrayal, love and hope.
Where the Door is Always Open and the Welcome Mat is Out
by Patricia Highsmith, read by Cherry Jones
Bullet In the Brain by Tobias Wolff
read by Toby Wherry
Gryphon by Charles Baxter
read by David Sedaris
In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried by Amy Hempel
read by Mary-Louise Parker
Cosmopolitan by Akhil Sharma
read by the Author
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"The first story wasn't the best, but the others were spectacular. I listened to the audio book, and the readers were fantastic. I especially loved the story about the substitute teacher. That's how I'd teach and is the reason I am NOT a teacher! Fantastic stories by David Sedaris' favorite authors."
— Amy (4 out of 5 stars)
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules Listener Reviews
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" Looks like I share a similar taste in the short story with Mr. Sedaris. "
— t-rex, 2/13/2014 -
" Not quite what I was expecting, but pretty good none the less. "
— Alison, 2/13/2014 -
" Some decent stories, but I'm not surprised. Anyone of his brilliance has to have good taste. "
— Gina, 2/6/2014 -
" Am almost done, and have found myself surprisingly underwhelmed by the collection, minus the Lorrie Moore (I believe it was) short story. Feel kind of like it was scraped together as a money-making scheme since tacking sedaris's name on anything will make it sell (and since the book has his name in big bold letters, kind of misleadingly making it look like he actually wrote it and didn't just compile it). "
— Lindy, 2/3/2014 -
" That's right. It's my very first ebook. And I don't know what page I'm on because it depends on what size type I feel like reading in. "
— Robyn, 2/1/2014 -
" I had a feeling I would be disappointed in this one. I was hoping it was a book written by Sedaris, but as it says, he is just the editor. I'm sure the collection of stories within is really great - I trust his judgement - but I was hoping for a Sedaris book. Maybe someday I'll read it when I'm super super bored. "
— Sandy, 1/31/2014 -
" This was a welcome surprise. Anthologies are often spotty affairs, but the ones in this collection are all amazing, especially Charles Baxter's "Gryphon" and Tobias Wolfe's "Bullet in the Brain." Highly recommended. "
— Loyd, 1/16/2014 -
" Most of these short stories were fantastic. I'm not sure I understand David Sedaris any better, but I appreciated being exposed to authors I wouldn't have read otherwise. "
— Leah, 1/15/2014 -
" This is a very compelling selection of short stories -- unlike the books David Sedaris writes (he compiled this anthology), they are not knee-slapping funny, but you can see where his appreciation for humor in life's bittersweet moments comes from. "
— Kate, 1/6/2014 -
" This is a great collection of stories by authors I know but with stories I hadn't read. It's a great collection of some of David Sedaris's favorites. "
— Amy, 1/3/2014 -
" I heard about this collection on NPR and went out and bought it. I love everything that Sadaris has read so I figured I'd like his favorites. A very diverse collection that has introduced me to some of my favorite current authors. "
— Janet, 12/29/2013 -
" Quite a variety-pack of great short stories. "
— Elise, 12/26/2013 -
" I think Sedaris is very funny and his writing is witty. I didn't love this collection of short stories and only read a few and skimmed the others. "
— Melissa, 12/20/2013 -
" I loved this collection of short stories "
— Melissa, 12/8/2013 -
" Felt somewhat 'bamboozled' after buying this on a whim online. If I had read the description of it, I would've seen it was a collection of stories that David Sedaris liked -- not wrote. Oops. Still good, though. "
— Kevin, 12/8/2013 -
" Listened to this book - while not a regular "audiobook" fan, I recommend this method for this particular collection of short stories. Each of the stories is narrated by the author - the authenticity is lovely. "
— Lg, 11/9/2013 -
" Oh my good heavens to mercy what an amazingly entertaining book. Fantastic writing from many different voices, very refreshing. "
— Maritess, 10/6/2013 -
" I kept skipping stories, maybe it was not a book to read on a coach and a plane. "
— Hannah, 9/24/2013 -
" this is a book of short stories edited by david sedaris. he writes the forward and it's a good look into what gets him going as far as great writing. big recommend if youre in between books or cant muster enough attention for a full novel. "
— aimeejoy, 7/24/2013 -
" One of my absolute favorite compilations of short stories. Sedaris brings together the stories that have influenced him as a writer and reader. A perfect flow of themes, settings and characters makes this a timeless collection of modern writing. "
— Ashley, 5/17/2013 -
" Great collection of short stories... "
— Sarah, 4/8/2013 -
" I read this collection for Sedaris and his choice of Lorrie Moore, and was pleasantly surprised with what else I found. "
— Kaitlin, 6/22/2012 -
" Sedaris anthology. Not his stories, but ones he loves. He's a genius. Very eclectic collection of stories, as one might expect from him. "
— Jennifer, 5/28/2012 -
" I love anthologies. This is a good one. "
— Matt, 5/10/2012 -
" A great selection of stories. Some funny, some tragic, all excellent examples of the "slice-of-life" experience short stories do so well. "
— Jennifer, 3/17/2012 -
" A good collection of short stories by various writers. "
— Eiley, 12/7/2011 -
" for a book edited by David Sedaris, not overly funny. Having said that, I think I have found a few new authors to read. "
— Traci, 10/20/2011 -
" I could listen to David Sedaris read the back of a cereal box. I really enjoyed his compilation of short stories, and each narrator is perfect for the story they read. Great for a shorter car trip, as you won't find yourself waiting in the parking lot waiting for the story to finish. "
— Erin, 9/9/2011 -
" good set of short stories "
— Rachel, 7/25/2011 -
" I wish I had read the summary on this book first, becuase I was expecting some humor from David Sedaris, which is certainly not this book of short stories collected by him. I was disappointed by this, and short stories are just not my thing. "
— Jessica, 5/2/2011 -
" Hated this anthology. Found the short stories painful to get through. Abandoned the book around page 150. Don't waste your time. "
— Terri, 4/25/2011 -
" Loved this -- such starkly different excerpts including literary greats as Flannery O'Connor. "
— Rought, 4/11/2011 -
" i mostly read this book because it was david sedaris editing short stories, one of which was by lorie moore. <br/>if you are familiar with sedaris books, this is not a sedaris book. this is a compilation of his favourite writers and there stories. it is a great read. "
— Kaitlin, 3/30/2011 -
" A must-read for anyone wanting to jump into the world of short stories. It provides a good jumping-off point to branch out and read some books by authors you might not have otherwise. "
— Kurt, 3/29/2011 -
" One of my absolute favorite compilations of short stories. Sedaris brings together the stories that have influenced him as a writer and reader. A perfect flow of themes, settings and characters makes this a timeless collection of modern writing. "
— Ashley, 3/26/2011 -
" This is a collection of stories by authors that David Sedaris believes are worthy of recognition. Most were pretty good. "
— Chris, 3/8/2011 -
" If you are looking to read David Sedaris, this is not for you. Otherwise a good collection of short stories plucked from the relative obscurity of most short stories in the universe. "
— Bj, 2/4/2011 -
" I really enjoyed the variety of short fiction, the stories differ wildly from each other, but all had something that stood out. "
— Jamie, 2/3/2011 -
" This is a great collection of unique short stories. "
— Laura, 1/3/2011 -
" Funnier and a bit more painful than expected, which is always DS's aim, to elicit that "ohhhh, no!" "
— Lisa, 12/30/2010 -
" entertaining, funny and twisted---as always. read this in one day...quick read. "
— Galen, 12/22/2010
About David Sedaris
David Sedaris is the author of a dozen books, including four that made the #1 New York Times bestsellers list. He is a regular contributor to the New Yorker and BBC Radio 4. In 2019, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is the recipient of the Thurber Prize for American Humor, Jonathan Swift International Literature Prize for Satire and Humor, and the Terry Southern Prize for Humor.
About the Narrators
Cherry Jones is an Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator who has won an AudioFile Earphones Award and twice been a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for best narration, in 2001 and 2005. She is also well known as a premiere theater actress and winner of a Tony Award. She has acted in numerous television shows, and her film roles include Erin Brockovich, The Perfect Storm, and M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs.
Mary-Louise Parker is a Tony, Emmy, and Golden Globe award-winning actress. Her writing has appeared in Esquire, The Riveter, Bust, and Bullet.
Akhil Sharma, author and narrator, was born in Delhi, India, and moved to the United States, where he attended Princeton and Harvard Law School. After graduation in 1992, he spent a year as a Wallace Stegner fellow in fiction at Stanford. His novel, An Obedient Father, won the 2001 PEN/Hemingway Award and the Whiting Writers’ Award. His short stories have been published in the New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, and The Best American Short Stories. His short story “Cosmopolitan” was anthologized in The Best American Short Stories 1998 and in 2003 was made into an acclaimed film of the same name. He has also worked as a screenwriter for television and film, and his book narrations include David Sedaris' Children Playing before a Statue of Hercules. He works as an investment banker in New York.
Toby Wherry is a narrator and stage and film actor who has appeared on stage at the Lincoln Center in New York, the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, and elsewhere. He played Doctor Cartwright in the 2012 short film of Edgar Allan Poe’s Berenice and contributed to the comedy “Man in the Flying Lawn Chair” that was a winner of the Edinburgh Festival’s Best of the Fringe award. His narrations include a short story in David Sedaris’ collection Children Playing before a Statue of Hercules.