Audiobooks by Henry Alford

I Dream of Joni: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell in 53 Snapshots

"In this nationally bestselling "delightful compendium of everything you ever wanted to know about" (The Washington Post) Joni Mitchell, the eternal singer-songwriter is seen anew, portrayed through a witty and comprehensive exploration of anecdotes, quotes, lyrics by Henry Alford, "the most graceful of humorists" (Vanity Fair) and a writer for The New Yorker. Joni Mitchell's life, psyche, and evolving legacy are explored here in "the greatest Joni book ever" (Francine Prose, New York Times bestselling author of Lovers at the Chameleon Club). From her childhood in Saskatoon, Canada, to her transformative years in Laurel Canyon that turned her into, as Alfred puts it, "the bard of heartbreak and longing," this definitive biography examines an artist celebrated by Rolling Stone as "one of the greatest songwriters ever." Each period of Mitchell's life is observed via the artists, friends, family, and lovers she encountered along the way, including James Taylor, Leonard Cohen, Georgia O'Keefe, Prince, and, most significantly, Kilauren, the daughter Mitchell gave up for adoption at birth but then reconnected with decades later. Presented in the impressionistic vein of Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margret, I Dream of Joni explores in fifty-three essays, with the author's critically acclaimed trademark wit and verve, the life of the legendary singer-songwriter."

Henry Alford (Author), Henry Alford (Narrator)

Audiobook

Born in England – Exploring English Poetry - The South-West

"Poetry. A form of words that seems so elegantly simple in one verse and so cleverly complex in another. Each poet has a particular style, an individual and unique way with words and yet each of us seems to recognise the path and destination of where the verses lead, even if sometimes the full comprehension may be a little beyond us.Through the centuries every culture has produced verse to symbolize and to describe everything from everyday life, natural wonders, the human condition and even in its more hubristic moments, the crushing triumph of an enemy.In the volumes of this series, we take a look at poetry through the prism of individual regions of England, or sometimes more quaintly known as ‘Albion’, or ‘Blighty’, through the centuries of its gloried history.England, despite its perception of reserve and under-statement has, in reality, strode the global stage at various time in many things, both good and bad, from Empire to long distance running. Here our focus in on its literature. Famed for its fiction and dramas, it is equally admired for its plethora of gifted poets and the dazzling verse which has added so much to its artistic legacy. These classic poets are wonders of their age and of their art. Genius is written in their names.This long limb of England pushes into the Atlantic yet from its ancient past until today its creative contribution is woven in gloried threads into the culture of the whole Nation."

Charles Kingsley, Henry Alford, Isaac Rosenberg, Ivor Gurney, John Keble, Joseph Addison, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Robert Southey, Samuel Daniel, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sir Walter Raleigh, Thomas Chatterton, Thomas Hardy, Thomas Lovell Beddoes (Author), Ghizela Rowe, Jo Wyatt, Richard Mitchley (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Rhyme A Dozen - 12 Poets, 12 Poems, 1 Topic ? Famous Tributes

"'A dime a dozen' as known in America, is perhaps equal to the English 'cheap as chips' but whatever the lingua franca of your choice in this series we hereby submit 'A Rhyme a Dozen' as 12 poems on many given subjects that are a well-rounded gathering, maybe even an essential guide, from the knowing pens of classic poets and their beautifully spoken verse to the comfort of your ears. 1 - A Rhyme A Dozen - 12 Poems, 12 Poets, 1 Topic - Famous Tributes - An Introduction 2 - To the Memory of My Beloved Master William Shakespeare and What He Hath Left Us by Ben Jonson 3 - In Honour of That High and Mighty Princess, Queen Elizabeth by Anne Bradstreet 4 - Abraham Lincoln by James Russell Lowell 5 - A Poem Upon the Death of His Late Highness the Lord Protector by Andrew Marvell 6 - The Death of Grant by Ambrose Bierce 7 - Lament for Thomas McDonagh by Francis Ledwidge 8 - Sonnet LVI Written at York on the Day of the Coronation of Queen Victoria June 28th, 1838 by Henry Alford 9 - To the Countess of Salisbury by Aurelian Townsend 10 - An Elegy on the Death of Llywelyn ab Gruyffyd by Gruffydd ap Yr Ynad Coch 11 - On the Death of the Late Earl of Rochester by Aphra Behn 12 - Chatterton in Holborn by Ernest Rhys 13 - Adonais; An Elegy On the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley"

Ambrose Bierce, Andrew Marvell, Anne Bradstreet, Aphra Behn, Aurelian Townsend, Ben Jonson, Ernest Rhys, Francis Ledwidge, Gruffydd Ap Yr Ynad Coch, Henry Alford, James Russell Lowell, Percy Bysshe Shelley (Author), Eve Karpf, Mark Rice-Oxley, Richard Mitchley (Narrator)

Audiobook

And Then We Danced: A Voyage into the Groove

""Captivating…equal parts memoir and cultural history, Henry Alford seamlessly interweaves heartwarming and hilarious anecdotes about his deep dive into all things dance" (Misty Copeland, The New York Times Book Review). When Henry Alford wrote about his experience with a Zumba class for The New York Times, little did he realize that it was the start of something much bigger. Dance would grow and take on many roles for Henry: exercise, stress reliever, confidence builder, an excuse to travel, a source of ongoing wonder, and—when he dances with Alzheimer's patients—even a kind of community service. Tackling a wide range of forms (including ballet, hip-hop, jazz, ballroom, tap, contact improvisation, Zumba, swing), Alford's grand tour takes us through the works and careers of luminaries ranging from Bob Fosse to George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp to Arthur Murray. Rich in insight and humor, Alford mines both personal experience and fascinating cultural history to offer a witty and ultimately moving portrait of how dance can express all things human. And Then We Danced "is in one sense a celebration of hoofer in all its wonder and variety, from abandon to refinement. But it is also history, investigation, memoir, and even, in its smart, sly way, self-help…very funny, but more, it is joyful—a dance all its own" (Vanity Fair)."

Henry Alford (Author), Henry Alford (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Poetry of August

"August - The eighth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar and the full palette of nature is on glorious display. Our poets, Wordsworth, Swinburne, Alford, Riley and Hardy describe and reveal their thoughts on the month and notable dates within it. Among our readers are Richard Mitchley and Ghizela Rowe. August - An Introduction; Hymn For The First Of August By John Pierpoint; Stanzas For The First Of August By James Monroe Whitfield; Sonnet XLII To GWC August 1st 1846 By Christopher Pearse Cranch; To Ms Jane Forster, On Her Birthday, August 4th 1724 By Henry Baker; August 1865 By Carolyn Clive; August 1914 By Isaac Rosenberg; Composed Near Calais, August 7th 1802 By William Wordsworth; Grant At Rest August 8th 1885 By James Whitcomb Riley; August Moonrise By Sara Teasdale; Calais August 1802 By William Wordsworth; I H B Died August 11th 1898 By William Winter; Summer Is Ended By Christina Rossetti; Tis The last Rose Of Summer By Thomas Moore; At Sundown By Daniel Sheehan; The Summer Rain By Henry David Thoreau; From Piccadilly In August By John Freeman; A Summer Evening Churchyard By Percy Bsysshe Shelley; Memorials Of A Tour In Scotland August 1803 By William Wordsworth; August 19th 1830 By Henry Alford; August By James Whitcomb Riley; An August Evening, 1865 By Carolyn Clive; August the 22nd 1830 By Henry Alford; The Winds Tidings In August 1870 By Augusta Davies Webster; Sonnet LIII, August By Christopher Pearse Cranch; Moonlight Summer Moonlight By Emily Jane Bronte; Lines Written In August By Thomas Babbington Macaulay; August By Algernon Charles Swinburne."

Charles Swinburne, Henry Alford, Thomas Hardy, William Wordsworth (Author), Ghizela Rowe, Richard Mitchley (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Poetry of October

"October - The tenth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar and the land prepares to give up more it its colourful coverings. On this and other themes our poets including Wordsworth, Rossetti, Arnold, Bryant and Alford have much to say. Among our readers are Richard Mitchley and Ghizela Rowe. The tracks are; October - An Introduction; Song Of The Democratic Review Of It's Birthday, October 1st 1857 By William Ross Wallace; An Ode, Written October 1819 Before The Spaniards Had Recovered Their Liberty By Shelley; Anticipation, October 1803 By William Wordsworth; Embarcation (Southampton Docks, October 1899) By Thomas Hardy; Give Me October's Meditative Haze By Alfred Austin; Hymn For The Celebration At The Laying Of The Cornerstone Of Harvard Memorial Hall, Cambridge, October 6th 1870 By Oliver Wendell Holmes; An October Garden By Christina Georgina Rossetti; North Wind In October By Robert Seymour Bridges; October By George Arnold; On The Tenth Of October By Phillip Henry Savage; October By John Jay Chapman; Through October Fields by James Edwin Campbell; October On The Sheep Range By Arthur Chapman; The National Prayer, October 1840 By Henry Alford; October By John Payne; October By Paul Laurence Dunbar; On The Road To Waterloo, 17th October (En Vigilante, 2 Hours) By Dante Gabriel Rossetti; October By William Cullen Bryant; An October Sunset By Archibald Lampman; October 1915 By Dora Sigerson Shorter; October 21st 1905 By George Meredith; October Musings 1866 By Janet Hamilton; Lines Written October 23rd 1836, A Few Hours After The Birth Of My First Child By Henry Alford; Written At Lovere, October 1736 By Mary Wortley Montagu; On St Crispins Day, October 25th, 1763 By James Wilson Claudero; Octobers Bright Blue Weather By Helen Hunt Jackson; Last Week In October By Thomas Hardy; An October Evening By William Wilfred Campbell; from October - On Nearing Halloween By James Graham."

Christina Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Henry Alford, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Thomas Hardy, William Wordsworth (Author), Ghizela Rowe, Richard Mitchley (Narrator)

Audiobook

Henry Alford - The Poetry Of

"Henry Alford, The Poetry. Poetry is a fascinating use of language. With almost a million words at its command it is not surprising that these Isles have produced some of the most beautiful, moving and descriptive verse through the centuries. In this series we look at individual poets who have shaped and influenced their craft and cement their place in our heritage. In this volume we look at the works of the Victorian Poet Henry Alford. Alford was born in London in 1810. Something of a prodigy he had published several Latin odes and a history of the Jews by the time he was 10. Graduating from Cambridge his life was to follow in the family footsteps of being a clergyman and he held the post of Vicar at Wymeswold in Leicestershire, for the next 18 years. Shortly after this he became the Dean of Canterbury. Much of his career highlights are based on his theology and such works as his startling 4 volume edition of the New Testament in Greek. But in this volume we concentrate on his poems. A fine example of a Victorian poet who managed to write several volumes of his own verse, his work is undeniably religious in tone but it has that quality of wonderment of expressing something beyond and apart from themselves. Many of the poems are also available as an audiobook from our sister company Portable Poetry. Many samples are at our youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/PortablePoetry?feature=mhee The full volume can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon and other digital stores. Among our readers are Richard Mitchley and Ghizela Rowe. Index Of Poems; Written January 1st 1832; Written During An Aurora Borealis January 7th 1831; Sonnet 59; Sonnet XLIII. The Malvern Hills, March 12th 1835; April 1844; Sonnet LVII - Summit Of Skiddaw, July 7th 1838; August 19th 1830; August the 22nd 1830; Sonnet XXL, Sacred To The Memory Of Edward Spedding Who Died September 3rd 1832; The National Prayer, October 1840; November 1847; Lines Written October 23rd 1836, A Few Hours After The Birth Of My First Child; February 3rd 1830; February 10th 1840; A Day Dream; A Doubt; A Truant Hour; Anticipation; Be Just And Fear Not; Faith; Life's Answer; Life's Question; Midnight Thoughts; Peace; Rydal Mount; Sonnet LVIII. Descent Of The Same; Sonnet LXIV. Written At Ghent; Sonnet LXXX. My Ancestors; Sonnet LXXXVII. We Want But Little: In The Morning Tide; Sonnet LXXXVIII. The Inward Pleasure Of Our Human Soul; Sonnet XCVIII. There Is One Baptism; Sonnet XCIX. Day By Day We Magnify Thee; Sonnet XLV. When I Behold Thee, Only Living One; Sonnet XLVI. Each Morn The Same Sun Rises On Our Day; Sonnet XLVIII. Sleep, Gentle Love! And Let The Soothing Dew; Sonnet XXII. The Dying Bed; Sonnet XXIV. The Same Sonnet XXV. The Funeral; Sonnet XXVIII. O When Shall This Frail Tenement Of Day; Sonnet XXX. On Seeing Our Family Vault; Sonnet XXXV. Twere Better Far From Noon To Eventide; Sonnet XXXVI. The Gipsy Girl; Sonnet XXXVIII. Epiphany; Sonnet VII. Truth Loveth Not To Lavish Upon All; The Ancient Man; The Bride; The Land's End; The Little Mourner; The Passion Of St. Agnes; The Salzburg Chimes; To A Beautiful Female Portrait; To A Drop Of Dew; To A Moonbeam By Our Fireside; Two Fragments; You And I"

Henry Alford (Author), Richard Mitchley (Narrator)

Audiobook

Would It Kill You to Stop Doing That: A Modern Guide to Manners

"'We all know bad manners when we see them,' NPR and Vanity Fair contributor Henry Alford observes at the beginning of his new book. But what, he asks, do good manners look like in our day and age? When someone answers their cell phone in the middle of dining with you, or runs you off the sidewalk with their doublewide stroller, or you enter a post-apocalyptic public restroom, the long-revered wisdom of Emily Post can seem downright prehistoric. Troubled by the absence of good manners in his day-to-day life-by the people who clip their toenails on the subway or give three-letter replies to one's laboriously crafted missives-Alford embarks on a journey to find out how things might look if people were on their best behavior a tad more often. He travels to Japan (the 'Fort Knox Reserve' of good manners) to observe its culture of collective politesse. He interviews etiquette experts both likely (Judith Martin, Tim Gunn) and unlikely (a former prisoner, an army sergeant). He plays a game called Touch the Waiter. And he volunteers himself as a tour guide to foreigners visiting New York City in order to do ground-level reconnaissance on cultural manners divides. Along the way (in typical Alford style) he also finds time to teach Miss Manners how to steal a cab; designates the World's Most Annoying Bride; and tosses his own hat into the ring, volunteering as an online etiquette coach. Ultimately, by tackling the etiquette questions specific to our age-such as Why shouldn't you ask a cab driver where's he's from?, Why is posting baby pictures on Facebook a fraught activity? and What's the problem with 'No problem'?-Alford finds a wry and warm way into a subject that has sometimes been seen as pedantic or elitist. And in this way, he looks past the standard 'dos' and 'don'ts' of good form to present an illuminating, seriously entertaining book about grace and civility, and how we can simply treat each other better."

Henry Alford (Author), Henry Alford (Narrator)

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