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The Givenness of Things: Essays Audiobook
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A Finalist for the 2016 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay
One of TIME magazine's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year
The spirit of our times can appear to be one of joyless urgency. As a culture we have become less interested in the exploration of the glorious mind, and more interested in creating and mastering technologies that will yield material well-being. But while cultural pessimism is always fashionable, there is still much to give us hope. In The Givenness of Things, the incomparable Marilynne Robinson delivers an impassioned critique of our contemporary society while arguing that reverence must be given to who we are and what we are: creatures of singular interest and value, despite our errors and depredations.
Robinson has plumbed the depths of the human spirit in her novels, including the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning Lila and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead, and in her new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern predicament and the mysteries of faith. These seventeen essays examine the ideas that have inspired and provoked one of our finest writers throughout her life. Whether she is investigating how the work of the great thinkers of the past, Calvin, Locke, Bonhoeffer—and Shakespeare—can infuse our lives, or calling attention to the rise of the self-declared elite in American religious and political life, Robinson's peerless prose and boundless humanity are on display. Exquisite and bold, The Givenness of Things is a necessary call for us to find wisdom and guidance in our cultural heritage, and to offer grace to one another.
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“Coleen Marlo may have the most beautiful and rich voice in the audiobook world. It’s always a pleasure to listen to her. When Marilynne Robinson focuses on contemporary concerns, this production all comes together—with Robinson’s thoughtfulness combined with Marlo’s smooth and sincere reading.”
— AudioFile
Quotes
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“A sense of wonder pervades the powerful essays in The Givenness of Things…Timely and important.”
— New York Times Book Review -
Robinson…brings both her formidable intellect and powers of plain speaking to deliver a clarion call against the culture of fear that she believes is eating away at American society.”
— Christian Science Monitor -
“Robinson’s genius is for making indistinguishable the highest ends of faith and fiction.”
— Bookforum -
“Eloquent, persuasive, and rigorously clear.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“These bravely and brilliantly argued, gorgeously composed, slyly witty, profoundly caring essays lead us into the richest dimensions of consciousness and conscience, theology and mystery, responsibility and reverence.”
— Booklist
Awards
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A New York Times Editor’s Choice
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Longlisted for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay
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A Time Magazine Top 10 Book of 2015 for Nonfiction
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About Marilynne Robinson
Marilynne Robinson is the author of numerous books, including Gilead, winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award; Home, winner of the Orange Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Lila, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award; and Jack, a New York Times bestseller. Her first novel, Housekeeping, won the PEN/Hemingway Award. She is the recipient of a 2012 National Humanities Medal, awarded by President Barack Obama, for “her grace and intelligence in writing.”
About Coleen Marlo
Coleen Marlo is an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator who has been nominated for an Audie Award twice, winning in 2011. She has been awarded three Listen-Up Awards from Publishers Weekly, an AudioFile Audiobook of the Year Award in 2011, and was named Audiobook Narrator of the Year for 2010 by Publishers Weekly. She is a member of the prestigious Actors Studio and taught acting for ten years at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. Marlo is a proud founding member of Deyan Institute of Voice Artistry and Technology.