Audiobooks narrated by Joseph Kloska

A Woman's Battles and Transformations Audiobook

Brought to you by Penguin. Everything started with a photo. To see her free, hurtling fulsomely towards the future, made me think back to the life she shared with my father. Seeing the photo reminded me that those twenty years of devastation were not anything natural but were the result of external forces - society, masculinity, my father - and that things could have been otherwise. One day, Édouard Louis finds a photograph of his mother from twenty years ago. A picture of a happy young woman, full of hopes and dreams. Growing up, Édouard only knew his mother's sadness, as she found herself trapped in the humdrum life of a housewife, and her struggles against the dominant world of men. What happened in those years since the photo was taken? Then, at the age of forty-five, his mother frees herself from this oppression. She leaves her husband and her old life behind, to start a new one in Paris. A Woman's Battles and Transformations is Édouard Louis's most tender book yet. It reckons with the cruel systems that govern our lives, with politics and power - and with the possibility of escape. It is an exquisite and loving portrait of a mother, and an honouring of her self-discovery and liberation as she chooses to live on her own terms. Translated from the French by Tash Aw 'Édouard Louis is one of the most important literary voices of his generation' Guardian © Édouard Louis 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Edouard Louis (Author), Joseph Kloska (Narrator)

Audiobook

Bernard Hinault and the Fall and Rise of French Cycling

Bernard Hinault is one of the greatest cyclists of all time. He is a five-time winner of the Tour de France and the only man to have won each of the Grand Tours on more than one occasion. Three decades on from his retirement, he remains the last Frenchman to win the Tour de France. His victory in 1985 marks the turning point when the nation who had dominated the first eight decades of the race they had invented suddenly found they were no longer able to win it. Hinault is the last 'old-school' champion: a larger-than-life character from a working-class background, capable of winning on all terrains, in major Tours and one-day Classics. Nicknamed the 'Badger' for his combative style, he led a cyclists' strike in his first Tour and instigated a legendary punch-up with demonstrators in 1982 while in the middle of a race. Hinault's battles with team-mates Laurent Fignon and Greg LeMond provide some of the greatest moments in Tour history. In Bernard Hinault and the Fall and Rise of French Cycling, number one bestselling author William Fotheringham finally gets to the bottom of this fascinating character and explores the reasons why the nation that considers itself cycling's home has found it so hard to produce another champion.

William Fotheringham (Author), Joseph Kloska (Narrator)

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Butcher, Blacksmith, Acrobat, Sweep: The Tale of the First Tour de France

Random House presents the unabridged downloadable audiobook edition of Butcher, Blacksmith, Acrobat, Sweep by Peter Cossins, read by Joseph Kloska. Full of adventure, mishaps and audacious attempts at cheating, the first Tour de France in 1903 was a colourful affair. Its riders included characters like Maurice "The White Bulldog" Garin, an Italian-born Frenchman whose parents were said to have swapped him for a round of cheese in order to smuggle him into France as a 14 year old, Hippolyte Aucouturier, who with his jersey of horizontal stripes and handlebar moustache looked like the villain from a Buster Keaton movie and amateurs like Jean Dargassies, a blacksmith who had no idea what he was letting himself in for. Dreamed up to revive a struggling newspaper, cyclists of the time weren't enthusiastic about this 'heroic' race through roads more suited to hooves than wheels, with bikes weighing up to twenty kilos, on a single fixed gear, for three full weeks. Assembling enough riders for the race meant paying unemployed amateurs from the suburbs of Paris, including a butcher, a chimney sweep and a circus acrobat. There was no indication that this ramshackle cycling pack would draw crowds to throng France's rutted roads and cheer the first Tour heroes. But they did, and all thanks to a marketing ruse, cycling would never be the same again. Acclaimed cycling writer Peter Cossins takes us through the inaugural Tour de France stage by stage to see where the greatest sporting event of all began.

Peter Cossins (Author), Joseph Kloska (Narrator)

Audiobook

Carnacki the Ghost-Finder

Dan Starkey takes on the mantle of William Hope Hodgson's supernatural detective, Thomas Carnacki, in this collection of enhanced audiobook readings: The Gateway of the Monster The House Among the Laurels The Whistling Room The Horse of the Invisible The Searcher of the End House The Thing Invisible

William Hope Hodgson (Author), Dan Starkey, Joseph Kloska (Narrator)

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Dracula

When a young solicitor, Jonathan Harker, visits the heart of Transylvania to meet reclusive nobleman Count Dracula he cannot begin to imagine what horrors might lie in store for him... Soon, Dracula's bloodlust spreads to England's shores, and Harker's fiancée Mina becomes embroiled in his affairs. Her best friend, Lucy Westenra, falls victim to the vampire's thirst, and it is only with the help of an unlikely bunch of allies that the Count might be defeated... but can the undead ever truly perish?

Bram Stoker (Author), Deirdre Mullins, Joseph Kloska, Mark Gatiss (Narrator)

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History of Violence

Random House presents the audiobook edition of History of Violence by Edouard Louis, read by Joseph Kloska. The radical and urgent new novel from the author of The End of Eddy I met Reda on Christmas Eve 2012. I was going home after a meal with friends, at around four in the morning. He approached me in the street, and finally I invited him up to my apartment. He told me the story of his childhood and how his father had come to France, having fled Algeria. We spent the rest of the night together, talking, laughing. At around 6 o'clock, he pulled out a gun and said he was going to kill me. He insulted me, strangled and raped me. The next day, the medical and legal proceedings began. History of Violence retraces the story of that night, and looks at immigration, dispossession, racism, desire and the effects of trauma in an attempt to understand, and to outline, a history of violence, its origins, its reasons and its causes.

Edouard Louis (Author), Joseph Kloska (Narrator)

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History of Violence: A Novel

History of Violence is international bestselling French author Edouard Louis's autobiographical audiobook about surviving a shocking sexual assault and coping with the post-traumatic stress disorder of its aftermath. On Christmas Eve 2012, in Paris, the novelist Édouard Louis was raped and almost murdered by a man he had just met. This act of violence left Louis shattered; its aftermath made him a stranger to himself and sent him back to the village, the family, and the past he had sworn to leave behind. A bestseller in France-challenged and vindicated in the courts-History of Violence is a short nonfiction account with the victim as its subject. Moving seamlessly and hypnotically between past and present, between Louis's voice and the voice of an imagined narrator, History of Violence has the exactness of a police report and the searching, unflinching curiosity of memoir at its best. It records not only the casual racism and homophobia of French society but also their subtle effects on lovers, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives. It represents a great step forward for a young writer whose acuity, skill, and depth are unmatched by any novelist of his generation, in French or English.

édouard Louis (Author), Joseph Kloska (Narrator)

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Howard's End: A BBC Radio 4 full cast dramatisation

Spring 1905, England. When Helen Schlegel goes to stay at Howard's End - the country home of the Wilcox family, her own life, along with that of her sister Margaret, is changed forever. This is the tale of three families at the beginning of the twentieth century: the rich Wilcoxes, the gentle, idealistic Schlegels and the lower-middle class Basts. Frequently cited as E. M. Forster's finest work, Howard's End brilliantly explores class warfare, conflict and the English character. This BBC dramatisation skilfully brings the classic novel to life.Starring John Hurt as the Narrator, Lisa Dillon as Margaret Schlegel, Jill Cardo as Helen Schlegel, Tom Ferguson as Tibby Schlegel, Alexandra Mathie as Aunt Juley, Malcolm Raeburn as Henry Wilcox, Ann Rye as Ruth Wilcox and Joseph Kloska as Charles Wilcox.

E.M. Forster (Author), , Alexandra Mathie, Ann Rye, Jill Cardo, John Hurt, Joseph Kloska, Lisa Dillon, Malcolm Raeburn, Tom Ferguson (Narrator)

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Memoirs

Brought to you by Penguin. 'Endlessly entertaining... Good, rollicking stuff, and a delight to read... Sir Kingsley Amis is surely one of the funniest men alive' Auberon Waugh, Sunday Telegraph Elegant, provocative and hugely entertaining, Kingsley Amis's memoirs are filled with anecdotes, experiences and portraits of famous friends, family, acquaintances (and a few eminent foes). From his childhood days to Oxford and army life, his travels abroad and his years as a successful novelist, Memoirs offers extraordinary insights into a unique literary life. © Kingsley Amis 1991 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Kingsley Amis (Author), Joseph Kloska (Narrator)

Audiobook

On the Rocks: The Complete Series 1 and 2: A BBC Radio 4 comedy drama

'A radio play by Christopher William Hill is something to look forward to with pleasure' - Radio Times It's the late 1930s, and even on the remote island of St Martin's in the Isles of Scilly war seems inevitable. But the islanders have their own battles to contend with, stuck on a rock flung 27 miles out into the Atlantic with only their natural grit and gallows humour to see them through. When a stranger in a suit arrives on the island, the locals decide he must be the undertaker come to deal with the body of the late postmaster. Then they discover he is not an undertaker after all - so they naturally conclude that he's a spy. But the truth is worse than that - his name is Frank Gunwallow and he's been sent over from Penzance to modernise the Post Office, around which their world revolves. The islanders are determined to resist this unwelcome change, and deeply suspicious of the young man from the mainland. Frank realises he's got a fight on his hands - and it'll take more than a shiny new telegraph machine to win them over... Created by award-winning novelist and scriptwriter Christopher William Hill, this gentle comedy stars Joseph Kloska as Frank, with Christine Absalom, Peter Marinker and Alex Tregear. Produced and directed by Mary Peate Sound by Jenni Burnett, Anne Bunting, Graham Harper and Caleb Knightley Production Co-ordinator: Jessica Brown First broadcast BBC Radio 4: 29 November-20 December 2013 (Series 1), 11 May-1 June 2015 (Series 2) Cast Frank Gunwallow - Joseph Kloska Mary - Bec Applebee Grace - Christine Absalom Tommy - Stuart Fox Ben - Alex Palmer Len - Ed Gaughan Reverend Tregarthan - Peter Marinker Morwenna-May - Alex Tregear Pender - Christopher William Hill Anthony - David Seddon Signor Di Bicci - Sam Dale

Christopher William Hill (Author), Alex Palmer, Alex Tregear, Bec Applebee, Christine Absalom, Christopher William Hill, Ed Gaughan, Joseph Kloska, Peter Marinker, Stuart Fox (Narrator)

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The Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER WATERSTONES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH ON THE SATURDAY MORNING OF JANUARY 9, 1993, WHILE JEAN CLAUDE ROMAND WAS KILLING HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN, I WAS WITH MINE IN A PARENT-TEACHER MEETING... With these chilling first words, acclaimed master of psychological suspense, Emmanuel Carrère, begins his exploration of the double life of a respectable doctor, eighteen years of lies, five murders, and the extremes to which ordinary people can go. 'As a writer, Carrère is straight berserk; as a storyteller he is so freakishly talented, so unassuming in grace and power that you only realize the hold he's got on you when you attempt to pull away... You say: True crime and literature? I don't believe it. I say: Believe it' Junot Díaz 'Mesmerising' Sunday Telegraph 'Stunning' Evening Standard 'Unputdownable' Washington Post 'A masterpiece' New York Times

Emmanuel Carrère (Author), Joseph Kloska (Narrator)

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The Dos And Don'ts For The Mentally Interesting: A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

A BBC Radio 4 drama by Louise Ramsden, based on Seaneen Molloy's blog 'The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive', her account of learning to live and love with bipolar disorder. Originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 8 May 2009. Facing life as a newly-diagnosed manic depressive, Seaneen fears that Rob has become more nurse than boyfriend, and begins to wonder if the only way to save a brilliant relationship is to leave it. The play charts her determination to cope with her illness and to live life independently. Starring Séainín Brennan as Seaneen and Joseph Kloska as Rob. Also featured in the cast are Janice Acquah, Toni Midlane and Philip Fox. Comments from the blog are read by members of the Radio Drama Company. Except for Seaneen and Rob, all the characters are fictional. 'The Do's and Don'ts for the Mentally Interesting' was directed by Fiona Kelcher.

Louise Ramsden (Author), Full Cast, Janice Acquah, Joseph Kloska, Philip Fox, Seainin Brennan, Toni Midlane (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Joseph Kloska