Audiobooks by Charles Johnson

"Celebrating Fifty Years of Picador Books Winner of the National Book Award 1990 The Apocalypse would definitely put a crimp in my career plans. Rutherford Calhoun, a puckish rogue and newly freed slave, spends his days loitering around the docks of New Orleans, dodging debt collectors, gangsters, and Isadora Bailey, a prim and frugal woman who seeks to marry him and curb his mischievous instincts. When the heat from these respective pursuers becomes too much to bear, he cons his way on to the next ship leaving the dock: the Republic. Upon boarding, to his horror he discovers that he is on an illegal slave ship embarking on the Middle Passage, the portion of the triangular trade route that saw slaves transported from Africa to the US. Staffed by a crew of criminals and degenerates, the Republic is on a mission to enslave members of the legendary Allmuseri tribe, while the sadistic yet philosophical Captain Falcon has a secondary objective: securing a mysterious cargo that possesses a terrifying and otherworldly power. What follows is a story of Rutherford’s battle for survival, as he finds himself juggling loyalties between the ship’s crew and the enslaved passengers, and is forced to use every ounce of the charm and cunning that he possesses to endure the desperate conditions and battle the myriad deadly forces on the high seas. A masterful blend of allegory, black comedy, naval adventure and supernatural horror, Charles Johnson's wildly inventive Middle Passage is a true modern classic. Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature."

Charles Johnson (Author), Dion Graham (Narrator)

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The Fakist: Season 2

"After the tumultuous events of Season 1, Paul DaFoe returns to The Fakist newsroom to put right what once went wrong. Can he save his future by outrunning his past? Not likely, but that doesn't mean he isn't going to try! Between all the drama, enjoy sketches like 'America's Next Mary Marvel,' 'The Ballad of Stinky Foot McNeil,' 'The Boybysitter's Club,' plus an epic two-part finale with more villains than you can shake a stick at."

Anne Marie Desimone, Bill Meeks, Charles Johnson, Derek O'neill, John Harrison, Liam Meeks, Megan Prevost, Rebecca Johnson, Wynn Mercere (Author), Bill Meeks, Bobby Hawke, Brian Brushwood, Derek O'neill, John Harrison, Justin Robert Young, Peter Price, Rebecca Johnson, Scott Johnson, Sean Trail, Teri Fruichantie, The Cast Of The Fakist, Tony Hooper, Wynn Mercere (Narrator)

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Grand: A Grandparent's Wisdom for a Happy Life

"National Book Award winner and MacArthur Genius Fellow Charles Johnson reflects on the joys of being a grandparent in this warm, inspiring collection of wisdom and life lessons—the ideal gift for any new parent or grandparent An award-winning novelist, philosopher, essayist, screenwriter, professor and cartoonist, Charles Johnson has held numerous impressive titles over the course of his incomparable career. Now, for the first time, with his trademark wisdom and philosophical generosity, he turns his attention to his most important role yet: grandparent. In Grand, Johnson shares stories from his life with his six-year-old grandson, Emery, weaving in advice and life lessons that stand the test of time. “Looking at the problems I see in the world around me,” Johnson writes, “I realize that there are so many things I want to say to him about the goodness and beauty that life offers. What are the perennial truths that I can impart to Emery that might make his journey through life easier or more rewarding?” Johnson shares these truths and more, offering profound meditations on family, race, freedom and creativity. Joyful, lucid and deeply comforting, Grand is Johnson at his most accessible and profound, an indispensable compendium for new grandparents and growing grandchildren alike, from one of America’s most revered thinkers."

Charles Johnson (Author), Ron Butler (Narrator)

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The Way of the Writer: Reflections on the Art and Craft of Storytelling

"An award-winning novelist, philosopher, essayist, screenwriter, professor, and cartoonist, Charles Johnson has devoted his life to creative pursuit. His 1990 National Book Award–winning novel Middle Passage is a modern classic, revered as much for its daring plot as its philosophical underpinnings. For thirty-three years, Johnson taught and mentored students in the art and craft of creative writing. The Way of the Writer is his record of those years, and the coda to a kaleidoscopic, boundary-shattering career. Organized into six accessible, easy-to-navigate sections, The Way of the Writer is both a literary reflection on the creative impulse and a utilitarian guide to the writing process. Johnson shares his lessons and exercises from the classroom, starting with word choice, sentence structure, and narrative voice, and delving into the mechanics of scene, dialogue, plot, and storytelling before exploring the larger questions at stake for the serious writer. What separates literature from industrial fiction? What lies at the heart of the creative impulse? How does one navigate the literary world? And how are philosophy and fiction concomitant?"

Charles Johnson (Author), Mirron Willis (Narrator)

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Wartime Lives

"What happens to people's lives during times of battle and strife? From the American Revolution to the ongoing war in Iraq, the subject of this collection is how people cope with the dramatic shifts that come with war. Before Independence, a slave fights for freedom by taking up arms for the British; in WWI, a mother goes to the front lines to see her son; and in our time, a teenager in Oregon waits for e-mail from his father in the Middle East."

Benjamin Percy, Charles Johnson, Maile Meloy, Robert Olen Butler, Tim O'Brien, Tom Bissell (Author), Dylan Baker, Kathleen Chalfant, Keith Szarabajka, Oskar Eustis, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Ted Marcoux (Narrator)

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