Showing results by narrator "Elliott Gould" in All Categories

Elliott Gould, Burt Reynolds, Meryl Streep, and a host of other celebrities read over 100 poems by four of America's greatest poets. Walt Whitman celebrates the brash and rugged individualism of his country in exuberant language. The spare, precise language of Emily Dickinson conveys her penetrating vision of the natural world and an acute understanding of the most profound human truths.

For sustained dramatic intrigue and sophistication of plot, William Shakespeare's sonnets are at least the equal of his greatest plays. Throughout the centuries since their first publication in 1609, critics, psychologists and curiosity-seekers alike have pondered the nature of the poet's relationships with the mysterious young man, "Mr. W.H.", and the "ill-coloured" Dark lady.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Drawing upon everyday incidents, common situations, and rural imagery, Robert Frost fashioned poetry of great lyrical beauty and potent symbolism. His language is simple, clear, and colloquial, yet dense with meaning and wider significance.

Robert Altman - visionary director, hard-partying hedonist, eccentric family man, Hollywood legend - comes roaring to life in this rollicking cinematic biography, told in a chorus of voices that can only be called Altmanesque.

Roger Folger, age 61, recently lost his wife, Stella, but her spirit hasn't wandered far. In an all-too-earthly way, Roger converses at will with her disembodied voice in the privacy of the home they shared for many years, and you can bet Stella talks back. Roger fills her in on the latest about their kids and neighbors, while she tells Roger what heaven's like - picture the Ritz-Carlton in Florida, managed by Saint Peter. Stella worries that Roger is lonely, and decides that he needs a new woman in his life.

Robert Altman - visionary director, hard-partying hedonist, eccentric family man, Hollywood legend - comes roaring to life in this rollicking cinematic biography, told in a chorus of voices that can only be called Altmanesque.

Spenser crossed paths with Paul Giacomin a decade ago. Now Paul's mother has vanished, and he enlists Spenser's aid to find her. Following her trail to its astonishing conclusion, Spenser is led back through Paul's own rites of passage - along the lanes of his own memories. The boy Spenser was and the man Paul must race toward a confrontation that may break their hearts, and threaten their lives.

Marlowe is back...and he's married to a rich, beautiful society lady who wants him to settle down in the posh desert community of Poodle Springs. Marlowe may have married rich, but old habits die hard: he's hired to recover a gambling debt and soon finds himself in a case involving bigamy, pornography and murder. The first four chapters of this final Marlowe mystery were written by noir master Raymond Chandler at the end of his life. Robert B. Parker was chosen by Chandler's estate to complete his last work.

The Sternwood family, immortalized in The Big Sleep, is in trouble again. Lovely Vivian's psychotic sister, Carmen, has disappeared from the sanitarium, and Vivian herself has once again fallen into the clutches of the shady underworld character Eddie Mars. Enter Philip Marlowe, the original tough-but-tender private eye, resurrected by Robert B. Parker, creator of his own phenomenally popular Spenser mystery series.

Washington Irving's tales of romance, travel, biographical discourse, and literary musing introduced such classic fictional figures as Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane, and the Headless Horsemen of Sleepy Hollow. A sage, storyteller, and wit, Irving earned his preeminence in early American literature with these masterpieces in miniature.  

Most kids write stories. Only a few of them grow up to be successful authors. But before there was Carrie, there was Jhonathan and the Witchs. And before there was Rabbit Angstrom, Toyota Dealer, there was Manuel Cirarro, famous detective. Could we have seen the seeds of success in Stephen King's and John Updike's juvenilia? A funny and surprisingly informative gathering of childhood creations by today's most celebrated writers.

From basic training to World War II to the Gulf War, America's veterans share their funniest stories in this collection of Reader's Digest's popular "Humor in Uniform" column. Beneath the horror of war lies a rich tradition of comedy and satire, and these anecdotes have entertained readers for decades. Stars of the TV and movie versions of America's favorite military comedy, M*A*S*H, read equally hilarious pieces from all four branches of the armed forces.

With a troubled past and a job that attracts too much attention from the law, John March has always been the black sheep of his staid merchant-banking family. That makes the identity of his latest client all the more surprising: his smug older brother, David. But when a body turns up, John finds that he's no longer searching for the woman stalking his brother. Now he's hunting a killer - along a trail that leads ever closer to his brother's door.

Just as the style of a great writer cannot easily be imitated, the performance of a great reader is hard to duplicate. This volume features some of the best readers dramatizing some of the best writings.