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The Underground Railroad (Television Tie-in): A Novel Audiobook
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(4.67) - 3 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • "An American masterpiece" (NPR) that chronicles a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South.
One of The New York Times’s 10 Best Books of the 21st Century • A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of the Century • A Los Angeles Times Best Fiction Book of the Last 30 Years
The basis for the acclaimed original Prime Video series directed by Barry Jenkins.
Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. An outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is on the cusp of womanhood—where greater pain awaits. And so when Caesar, a slave who has recently arrived from Virginia, urges her to join him on the Underground Railroad, she seizes the opportunity and escapes with him.
In Colson Whitehead's ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor: engineers and conductors operate a secret network of actual tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora embarks on a harrowing flight from one state to the next, encountering, like Gulliver, strange yet familiar iterations of her own world at each stop.
As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the terrors of the antebellum era, he weaves in the saga of our nation, from the brutal abduction of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is both the gripping tale of one woman's will to escape the horrors of bondage—and a powerful meditation on the history we all share.
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"At first I didn't like it, then I did. Sort of back and forth. But in the end I thought it was excellent. Our book group discussion was very active on this one. Why use the metaphor of the a 'real railroad' ; how the specifics of the events actually crossed over 40 years (not in the span of the specific escape story. Totally worth a read on this one."
— Wendy (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Bahni Turpin’s narration is near perfection as she captures the emotional heart of this audiobook. Her sensitive pacing allows listeners to absorb the impact of intense scenes and tugs them along when the plot races…Turpin’s strong performance combined with author Whitehead’s affecting writing makes this the one audiobook you cannot miss. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile -
"[A] skillful blend of adventure and harrowing historical reflection.”
— BookPage -
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE, THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD, THE ALA ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL AND THE HURSTON/WRIGHT AWARD ** NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, WALL STREET JOURNAL, WASHINGTON POST, TIME, PEOPLE, NPR AND MORE ** #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
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Get it, then get another copy for someone you know because you are definitely going to want to talk about it once you read that heart-stopping last page.
— Oprah Winfrey (Oprah's Book Club 2016 Selection) -
[A] potent, almost hallucinatory novel... It possesses the chilling matter-of-fact power of the slave narratives collected by the Federal Writers’ Project in the 1930s, with echoes of Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, and brush strokes borrowed from Jorge Luis Borges, Franz Kafka and Jonathan Swift…He has told a story essential to our understanding of the American past and the American present.
— Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times -
Think Toni Morrison (Beloved), Alex Haley (Roots); think 12 Years a Slave…An electrifying novel…a great adventure tale, teeming with memorable characters…Tense, graphic, uplifting and informed, this is a story to share and remember.
— People, (Book of the Week) -
With this novel, Colson Whitehead proves that he belongs on any short list of America's greatest authors--his talent and range are beyond impressive and impossible to ignore. The Underground Railroad is an American masterpiece, as much a searing document of a cruel history as a uniquely brilliant work of fiction.
— Michael Schaub, NPR -
Far and away the most anticipated literary novel of the year, The Underground Railroad marks a new triumph for Whitehead…[A] book that resonates with deep emotional timbre. The Underground Railroad reanimates the slave narrative, disrupts our settled sense of the past and stretches the ligaments of history right into our own era...The canon of essential novels about America's peculiar institution just grew by one.
— Ron Charles, Washington Post
Awards
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A 2016 Oprah’s Book Club Selection
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A BookPage Top Pick for September 2016
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A #1 New York Times Bestseller
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Winner of a 2016 National Book Award
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Winner of the 2017 Carnegie Medal for Literature
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Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
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Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize
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Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
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A London Guardian Pick of Best Books of the 21st Century
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Winner of Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2017
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An Audible Editors Top Pick of Audiobooks Now on Video
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Winner of Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, 2017
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Winner of Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2017
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Winner of Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, 2017
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Among shortlisted titles for Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction, 2017
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Among longlisted titles for Man Booker Prize for Fiction, 2017
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Winner of National Book Award, 2016
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Winner of New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, 2016
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Winner of Pulitzer Prize (Fiction), 2017
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Winner of Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, 2017
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Winner of Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2017
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Winner of Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, 2017
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Among shortlisted titles for Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction, 2017
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Among longlisted titles for Man Booker Prize for Fiction, 2017
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Winner of National Book Award, 2016
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Winner of New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, 2016
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Winner of Pulitzer Prize (Fiction), 2017
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Winner of Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, 2017
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Winner of Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2017
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Winner of Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, 2017
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Among shortlisted titles for Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction, 2017
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Among longlisted titles for Man Booker Prize for Fiction, 2017
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Winner of National Book Award, 2016
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Winner of New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, 2016
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Winner of Pulitzer Prize (Fiction), 2017
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Winner of Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, 2017
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Winner of Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2017
-
Winner of Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, 2017
-
Among shortlisted titles for Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction, 2017
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Among longlisted titles for Man Booker Prize for Fiction, 2017
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Winner of National Book Award, 2016
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Winner of New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, 2016
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Winner of Pulitzer Prize (Fiction), 2017
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Winner of Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, 2017
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Winner of Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2017
-
Winner of Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, 2017
-
Among shortlisted titles for Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction, 2017
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Among longlisted titles for Man Booker Prize for Fiction, 2017
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Winner of National Book Award, 2016
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Winner of New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, 2016
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Winner of Pulitzer Prize (Fiction), 2017
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Winner of Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, 2017
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Winner of Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2017
-
Winner of Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, 2017
-
Among shortlisted titles for Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction, 2017
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Among longlisted titles for Man Booker Prize for Fiction, 2017
-
Winner of National Book Award, 2016
-
Winner of New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, 2016
-
Winner of Pulitzer Prize (Fiction), 2017
-
Winner of Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, 2017
-
Winner of Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2017
-
Winner of Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, 2017
-
Among shortlisted titles for Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction, 2017
-
Among longlisted titles for Man Booker Prize for Fiction, 2017
-
Winner of National Book Award, 2016
-
Winner of New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, 2016
-
Winner of Pulitzer Prize (Fiction), 2017
-
Winner of Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, 2017
-
Winner of Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2017
-
Winner of Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, 2017
-
Among shortlisted titles for Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction, 2017
-
Among longlisted titles for Man Booker Prize for Fiction, 2017
-
Winner of National Book Award, 2016
-
Winner of New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, 2016
-
Winner of Pulitzer Prize (Fiction), 2017
-
Winner of Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, 2017
-
Winner of Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2017
-
Winner of Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, 2017
-
Among shortlisted titles for Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction, 2017
-
Among longlisted titles for Man Booker Prize for Fiction, 2017
-
Winner of National Book Award, 2016
-
Winner of New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, 2016
-
Winner of Pulitzer Prize (Fiction), 2017
-
Winner of Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, 2017
-
Winner of Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2017
-
Winner of Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, 2017
-
Among shortlisted titles for Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction, 2017
-
Among longlisted titles for Man Booker Prize for Fiction, 2017
-
Winner of National Book Award, 2016
-
Winner of New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, 2016
-
Winner of Pulitzer Prize (Fiction), 2017
The Underground Railroad (Television Tie-in) Listener Reviews
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Martin Jacobi, 6/1/2019
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sonia mcvean, 4/6/2017
About Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of eleven works of fiction and nonfiction, is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, for The Nickel Boys and The Underground Railroad, which also won the National Book Award. His other awards include the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the PEN Oakland Award, and the Young Lions Fiction Award, among others. His books have been named best books of the year by the New York Times, Washington Post, Time magazine, Boston Globe, and many more. He is a recipient of MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships.
About Bahni Turpin
Bahni Turpin, winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and several prestigious Audie Awards for her narrations, was named a “Golden Voice” by AudioFile magazine in 2019. Publishers Weekly magazine named her Narrator of the Year for 2016. She is an ensemble member of the Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles. She has guest starred in many television series, including NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Six Feet Under, Cold Case, What about Brian, and The Comeback. Film credits include Brokedown Palace, Crossroads, and Daughters of the Dust. She is also a member of the recording cast of The Help, which won numerous awards.