Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules
    Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules
    Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules
    Audiobook2 hours

    Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules

    Written by Tobias Wolff, Akhil Sharma, Charles Baxter and

    Narrated by Akhil Sharma, David Sedaris, Cherry Jones and

    3.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    A must-have for the fans of the #1 bestselling author of Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris, a collection of his favorite short fiction from Flannery O'Connor to Tobias Wolff.

    David Sedaris is an exceptional reader. Alone in his apartment, he reads stories aloud to the point he has them memorized. Sometimes he fantasizes that he wrote them. Sometimes, when they’re his very favorite stories, he’ll fantasize about reading them in front of an audience and taking credit for them. The audience in these fantasies always loves him and gives him the respect he deserves.

    David Sedaris didn’t write the stories in Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules . But he did read them. And he liked them enough to hand pick them for this collection of short fiction. Featuring such notable writers as Lorrie Moore, Alice Munro, Joyce Carol Oates, Jean Thompson, and Tobias Wolff, Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules includes some of the most influential and talented short story writers, contemporary and classic.

    Perfect for fans who suffer from Sedaris fever, Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules will tide them over and provide relief.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateApr 4, 2005
    ISBN9780743551663
    Author

    Tobias Wolff

    Tobias Wolff was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and grew up in Washington State. He attended Oxford University and Stanford University, where he now teaches English and creative writing. He has received the Story Prize, both the Rea Award and PEN/Malamud Award for excellence in the short story, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award.

    Related to Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules

    Related audiobooks

    Anthologies For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Related categories

    Reviews for Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules

    3.5/5

    266 ratings13 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Amazing short stories read by amazing authors - personally the longest was at the end and the not as good as the ones before - which are great!
    • 5/5
      Lovely compilation of stories! Took me to work and home all week
    • 4/5
      this audiobook is abridged. the print version is much larger.
    • 5/5
      It was quite a treat to listen to such wonderful stories. All the narrators were amazing. I can't pick a favorite story because each one is beautiful and have kept me thinking about them at random times.
    • 4/5
      Ah well... I thought this was WRITTEN by David Sedaris and was all ready to chuckle along with my fave memoirist. Despite my initial disappointment, this collection is great! I enjoyed the stories and will be exploring each of the authors in more detail.
    • 2/5
      short stories selected by David Sedaris.
      I am pretty sure I didn't fall asleep during this audiobook, but there seemed to be only a handful of stories--maybe 5 or 6? Is there such a thing as an abridged audiobook of short stories?
      They weren't as entertaining as Sedaris' own work, but as his favorites serve as a sort of window into his literary tastes.
    • 5/5
      I desperately want my own copy of this now. It is that good. David Sedaris, you have damn good taste in short stories. Although that isn't much of a surprise, is it?
    • 2/5
      I love David Sedaris and I went to see him live... he recommended some books to read and then I found this collection he compiled. I am not a huge fan of short stories. I like them only if the story completes itself and isn't all about symbolism and themes. A few stories I loved and some I couldn't get into (... borderline hated). If you like short stories, David Sedaris is a great author with excellent taste and I am sure this compilation will not disappoint. If not, go into it realizing it's what it is... that's what got me through it. Thankfully there were a few stories to make the book worthwhile.
    • 4/5
      A friend gave me this, as we are both Sedaris fans. None of this is his work (save the introduction, which was on par with most of his better essays), but I decided to trust his judgment and try something new. As with most collections, the stories were of varying quality.Where the Door is Always Open and the Welcome Mat is Out by Patricia Highsmith, read by Cherry Jones: Mildred is rushing around frantically to prepare for her sister Edith’s visit. The reader was great, but the story itself was pretty boring. Maybe it was because I just wasn’t all that interested in the characters, or maybe because all the minutia felt excessively detailed.Bullet In the Brain by Tobias Wolff, read by Toby Wherry: A fascinating little vignette that stretches out an instant of time into a fully coherent narrative, and it ended at just the right spot too.Gryphon by Charles Baxter, read by David Sedaris: A new substitute teacher with crazy ideas. Sedaris did an excellent job, which is kind of surprising since he tends to narrate in a sort of monotone, but somehow he managed to get across everything with subtle changes in pitch and inflection. Probably my favorite of the batch.In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried by Amy Hempel, read by Mary-Louise Parker: I’ll be perfectly honest here: I had a whole lot of trouble following this one. Maybe I was just distracted, but I have absolutely no idea what it was about.Cosmopolitan written and read by Akhil Sharma: A somewhat strange tale about an older Indian man attempting to have an affair with his American neighbor. Sharma probably should not have read his own story, as his cadence tended toward the droning, but I still very much enjoyed the story, and the ending made me smile.In all, not a bad collection. These are the sorts of stories we’d read in creative writing classes, which gave me weird flashbacks from time to time, but it was a nice break from the string of novels I’d been listening to lately.
    • 5/5
      for a book edited by David Sedaris, not overly funny. Having said that, I think I have found a few new authors to read.
    • 4/5
      Readers should be aware that this is a collection of Sedaris's favorite essays, not his own work. That said, the pieces are generally excellent, and it is interesting to get a perspective on the more serious literary side of this remarkable comedic writer.Perhaps the best aspect of this book is that his popularity will encourage more people to discover the pleasures of short stories. All this great storytelling, and the proceeds of new sales go to charity!After reading these pieces, it's easy to see how Sedaris got his inspiration for his tightly constructed comedic essays. A great read.
    • 4/5
      David Sedaris's introduction to this short story collection, which he edited, is a lovely ode to reading and taste, and the way a really good story can just flatten you. "I believed, and still do," he writes, "that stories can save you." The stories included here, he says, are the "Herculai"--the literary giants that make him feel like "a comparative midget, scratching around in their collective shadow." Among my favorites here were "Oh, Joseph, I'm So Tired," "Gryphon," "People Like That Are the Only People Here," and "Cosmopolitan." And--on top of a great read--when you buy this book you get to feel like a do-gooder, too; all proceeds from the sale go to 826NYC.
    • 3/5
      Some of the oddest short stories, ever!