Far and Away: Reporting from the Brink of Change Audiobook

From the winner of the National Book Award and the National Books Critics’ Circle Award—and one of the most original thinkers of our time—a riveting collection of essays about places in dramatic transition

Far and Away collects Andrew Solomon’s writings about places undergoing seismic shifts—political, cultural, and spiritual. Chronicling his stint on the barricades in Moscow in 1991, when he joined artists in resisting the coup whose failure ended the Soviet Union, his 2002 account of the rebirth of culture in Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban, his insightful appraisal of a Myanmar seeped in contradictions as it slowly, fitfully pushes toward freedom, and many other stories of profound upheaval, this book provides a unique window onto the very idea of social change. With his signature brilliance and compassion, Solomon demonstrates both how history is altered by individuals, and how personal identities are altered when governments alter.

A journalist and essayist of remarkable perception and prescience, Solomon captures the essence of these cultures. Ranging across seven continents and twenty-five years, Far and Away takes a magnificent journey into the heart of extraordinarily diverse experiences, yet Solomon finds a common humanity wherever he travels. Illuminating the development of his own genius, his stories are always intimate and often both funny and deeply moving.

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“The episodic structure of this book and its first-person point of view make it eminently suited for audio. The author recounts his experiences across the globe—from walking a protest line in Moscow to riding a reindeer in Mongolia, getting kidnapped in Ecuador, and lamenting the loss of historic culture in Afghanistan. His eye for detail brings scenes to life. The varied selections, which include published reports dating back to the late 1980s as well as new reflections, make this especially effective for listeners who can’t invest long stretches of time…listeners will enjoy these accounts of historic change.”

— AudioFile