Audiobooks narrated by Norman Dietz

Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism

Professor emeritus at the University of Vermont, James W. Loewen won the National Book Award for his New York Times best-seller, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. Sundown Towns examines thousands of all-white American towns that were- and still are, in some instances-racially exclusive by design.

Dr. James Loewen, James Loewen, James W. Loewen (Author), Norman Dietz (Narrator)

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Man Without a Country

One of the greatest minds in American writing, Kurt Vonnegut has left an indelible impression on literature with such inventive novels as Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse- Five and Breakfast of Champions. Now this iconic figure shares his often hilarious and always insightful reflections on America, art, politics and life in general. No matter the subject, Vonnegut will have you considering perspectives you may never have regarded. On the creative process: "If you want to really hurt your parents . the least you can do is go into the arts. I'm not kidding." On politics: "No, I am not going to run for President, although I do know that a sentence, if it is to be complete, must have both a subject and a verb." On nature: "Evolution is so creative. That's how we got giraffes." On modern cultural attitudes: "Do you think Arabs are dumb? They gave us our numbers. Try doing long division with Roman numerals." And on the fate of humankind: "The good Earth-we could have saved it, but we were too damn cheap and lazy." A Man without a Country showcases Vonnegut at his wittiest, most acerbic, and most concerned. Beyond the humor and biting satire is an appeal to all readers to give careful thought to the world around them and the people they share it with.

Kurt Vonnegut (Author), Norman Dietz (Narrator)

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Rant: The Oral History of Buster Casey

Buster "Rant" Casey just may be the most efficient serial killer of our time. A high school rebel, Rant Casey escapes from his small town home for the big city where he becomes the leader of an urban demolition derby called Party Crashing. Rant Casey will die a spectacular highway death, after which his friends gather the testimony needed to build an oral history of his short, violent life. With hilarity, horror, and blazing insight, Rant is a mind-bending vision of the future, as only Chuck Palahniuk could ever imagine.

Chuck Palahniuk (Author), Alan Nebelthau, Andrea Gallo, Andy Paris, Angela Rogers, Cynthia Darlow, Danielle Ferland, Ed Sala, Full Cast, George Guidall, Greg Steinbruner, Henry Strozier, James Jenner, James Yaegashi, John Mcdonough, Johnny Heller, Jonathan Hogan, Julia Gibson, Kevin R. Free, L.J. Ganser, Lizzy Cooper-Davis, Lizzy Cooper-Davis, Melanie Martinez, Nick Landrum, Nicole Poole, Norman Dietz, Richard Poe, Robin Miles, Ruth Ann Phimister, Stina Nielsen, Suzanne Toren, T. Ryder Smith, Tom Stechschulte (Narrator)

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Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons

From the bestselling author of Day of Infamy: In the bloodiest island combat of WWII, one group of men kept watch from behind Japanese lines. The Solomon Islands was where the Allied war machine finally broke the Japanese empire. As pilots, marines, and sailors fought for supremacy in Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and the Slot, a lonely group of radio operators occupied the Solomon Islands' highest points. Sometimes encamped in comfort, sometimes exposed to the elements, these coastwatchers kept lookout for squadrons of Japanese bombers headed for Allied positions, holding their own positions even when enemy troops swarmed all around. They were Australian-born but Solomon-raised, and adept at survival in the unforgiving jungle environment. Through daring and insight, they stayed one step ahead of the Japanese, often sacrificing themselves to give advance warning of an attack. In Lonely Vigil, Walter Lord, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Night to Remember and The Miracle of Dunkirk, tells of the survivors of the campaign and what they risked to win the war in the Pacific.

Walter Lord (Author), Norman Dietz (Narrator)

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The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw

Patrick McManus, author of How I Got This Way and one of America's favorite humorists, is an impish commentator on the obvious and not so obvious absurdities of modern life. His national best-seller, The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw, is a collection of hilarious short pieces about fishing, its exotic equipment, and activities like "gunkholing." You will learn, for example, that the best way to learn to fish is to build an addition to your house first. It should be big enough to hold all the nifty fishing equipment you will cart home from sporting goods stores and garage sales. McManus cheerfully guides you through the finer points of becoming a skilled garage sale shopper, too. Be prepared to enter a quixotic universe that works according to the laws of "synch" and marvelously loopy chains of cause and effect. The title selection takes place on an ill-fated camping trip; other selections include "Kid Brothers and Their Practical Application," and "As the Worm Squirms."

Patrick F. McManus (Author), Norman Dietz (Narrator)

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The Last Days of the Incas

In 1532, the fifty-four-year-old Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro led a force of 167 men, including his four brothers, to the shores of Peru. Unbeknownst to the Spaniards, the Inca rulers of Peru had just fought a bloody civil war in which the emperor Atahualpa had defeated his brother Huascar. Pizarro and his men soon clashed with Atahualpa and a huge force of Inca warriors at the Battle of Cajamarca. Despite being outnumbered by more than two hundred to one, the Spaniards prevailed—due largely to their horses, their steel armor and swords, and their tactic of surprise. They captured and imprisoned Atahualpa. Although the Inca emperor paid an enormous ransom in gold, the Spaniards executed him anyway. The following year, the Spaniards seized the Inca capital of Cuzco, completing their conquest of the largest native empire the New World has ever known. Peru was now a Spanish colony, and the conquistadors were wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. But the Incas did not submit willingly. A young Inca emperor, the brother of Atahualpa, soon led a massive rebellion against the Spaniards, inflicting heavy casualties and nearly wiping out the conquerors. Eventually, however, Pizarro and his men forced the emperor to abandon the Andes and flee to the Amazon. There, he established a hidden capital, called Vilcabamba. Although the Incas fought a deadly, thirty-six-year-long guerrilla war, the Spanish ultimately captured the last Inca emperor and vanquished the native resistance. Kim MacQuarrie lived in Peru for five years and became fascinated by the Incas and the history of the Spanish conquest. Drawing on both native and Spanish chronicles, he vividly describes the dramatic story of the conquest, with all its savagery and suspense. MacQuarrie also relates the story of the modern search for Vilcabamba, of how Machu Picchu was discovered, and of how a trio of colorful American explorers only recently discovered the lost Inca capital of Vilcabamba, which had been hidden in the Amazon for centuries. This authoritative, exciting history is among the most powerful and important accounts of the culture of the South American Indians and the Spanish Conquest.

Kim MacQuarrie (Author), Norman Dietz (Narrator)

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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Professor Pierre Aronnax is a fortunate though unwilling passenger on the amazing submersible, Nautilus. Its captain, Nemo, hounded by the "civilized" world above water, wages a solitary war against what he views as injustice and hatred. While Aronnax gazes out through the observation windows of the massive craft on the deepest trenches of the sea, the greater wonder may be the enigmatic commander at his side and the deadly quest he pursues.

Jules Verne (Author), Norman Dietz (Narrator)

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The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery

From a master historian, the story of Abraham Lincoln's—and the nation's—transformation through the crucible of slavery and emancipation. In this landmark work of deep scholarship and insight, Eric Foner gives us the definitive history of Abraham Lincoln and the end of slavery in America. Foner begins with Lincoln's youth in Indiana and Illinois and follows the trajectory of his career across an increasingly tense and shifting political terrain from Illinois to Washington, D.C. Although "naturally anti-slavery" for as long as he can remember, Lincoln scrupulously holds to the position that the Constitution protects the institution in the original slave states. But the political landscape is transformed in 1854 when the Kansas-Nebraska Act makes the expansion of slavery a national issue. A man of considered words and deliberate actions, Lincoln navigates the dynamic politics deftly, taking measured steps, often along a path forged by abolitionists and radicals in his party. Lincoln rises to leadership in the new Republican Party by calibrating his politics to the broadest possible antislavery coalition. As president of a divided nation and commander in chief at war, displaying a similar compound of pragmatism and principle, Lincoln finally embraces what he calls the Civil War's "fundamental and astounding" result: the immediate, uncompensated abolition of slavery and recognition of blacks as American citizens. Foner's Lincoln emerges as a leader, one whose greatness lies in his capacity for moral and political growth through real engagement with allies and critics alike. This powerful work will transform our understanding of the nation's greatest president and the issue that mattered most.

Eric Foner (Author), Norman Dietz (Narrator)

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The Triumph and Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson: The White House Years

President Lyndon Johnson was bigger than life—and no one who worked for him or was subjected to the "Johnson treatment" ever forgot it. As Johnson's "Deputy President of Domestic Affairs," Joseph A. Califano's unique relationship with the president greatly enriches our understanding of our thirty-sixth president. Califano shows listeners LBJ's commitment to economic and social revolution, and his willingness to do whatever it took to achieve his goals. He uncorks LBJ's legislative genius and reveals the political guile it took to pass laws in civil rights, poverty, immigration reform, health, education, environmental protection, consumer protection, the arts, and communications. A no-holds-barred account of Johnson's presidency, The Triumph and Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson is an intimate portrait of a president whose towering ambition for his country and himself reshaped America—and ultimately led to his decision to withdraw from the political arena in which he fought so hard.

Joseph A. Califano, Jr. (Author), Norman Dietz (Narrator)

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Never Sniff a Gift Fish

Humorist Patrick F. McManus has been called "a master at spoofing sportsmen" by Publishers Weekly. His rib-tickling books about hunting, fishing, and camping receive rave reviews from national media. The New York Times Book Review writes, "Everybody should read Patrick McManus." In the chapters of Never Sniff a Gift Fish, McManus will teach you the wisdom that is usually shared only in the close ranks of modern-day hunters and gatherers. To complete your arsenal, McManus also includes The Hunter's Workout Guide and a special Family Camper's Dictionary. Exercises like the hindquarter shuffle will make you move like a hunter. And phrases like "Yip-yip-yip-Owoooooo!" will help you sound like one, too. Whether he's poking fun at fly fishing or taking on some other sportsman's icon, Patrick F. McManus is sure to have you laughing aloud. Norman Dietz's wry narration is the perfect vehicle for McManus' best-selling, tongue-in-cheek works. Also available: How I Got This Way, The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw, and The Good Samaritan Strikes Again.

Patrick F. McManus (Author), Norman Dietz (Narrator)

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The Grasshopper Trap

Often compared to Garrison Keillor and Mark Twain, Patrick F. McManus maintains just the right balance between baffled innocence and conspiratorial confidence. Since 1979, this humorist has been delighting readers with hilarious stories recounting his childhood in rural Idaho and relating his misadventures in the great outdoors. Whether you're a sportsman or a couch potato, he will have you laughing out loud at his escapades. In this collection of 30 tall tales, McManus introduces you to the perils of Trailer Trials and Mean Tents. Like Hemingway, McManus hunts the big fish in Down and Way Out in Brazil. The title tale, The Grasshopper Trap, unveils an ingenious invention for catching fish bait in motion. And in Hunting Camp Etiquette, McManus becomes a rustic Miss Manners. Narrator Norman Dietz adds additional spice to each impish line. You won't want to miss the other audio productions of McManus' works, including Never Sniff a Gift Fish and The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw.

Patrick F. McManus (Author), Norman Dietz (Narrator)

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The Prince and the Pauper

One of the more famous stories in children' s literature, The Prince and the Pauper has become an adult classic as well. Twain' s tall tale about a bedraggled street urchin who becomes king for a day, and his twin, the pampered Prince of Wales left to fend for himself among his seedier subjects, showcases the author' s satirical wit and his acute sense of political irony. The scenes of a young Tom Cantry, wearing the trappings of a prince, but possessing the heart of a beggar, stir both the imagination and the heart. Hearing this familiar story read by Recorded Books' Norman Dietz is a delightful experience that will reintroduce the seasoned reader to our nation' s most treasured storyteller, Mark Twain.

Mark Twain (Author), Norman Dietz (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Norman Dietz