Audio book

 

Duke

Author : Ronald L. Davis

Performed By : Adams Morgan

Publisher : Blackstone Audio Inc

Runtime : 16 hours

Categories : Arts & Drama

Our Price : $44.95 $29.95

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"In a virile, red-white-and-blue biography of an ostentatiously virile man, Davis examines
how Wayne built and maintained the image that soon grew "to overshadow his private identity and. . .
came to represent America itself". . . .Plenty has been written about Wayne and his movies, but Davis'
biography is exemplary, highly informative, and eminently readable; in short, one for serious fans."
Booklist

"What moves this entertaining biography to a higher plain is that Davis, as the director of SMU's oral history
program on the performing arts for 25 years, was in a singular position to document the memories of Wayne's
family, friends and associates. . . .The exhaustive yet readable and entertaining result might explain why the
back of this book carries rave blurbs by Janet Leigh and other actors and directors who worked with the Duke."
Publishers Weekly

Decades after his death, John Wayne is still the favorite movie star of many Americans.
More than an actor, Wayne is a cultural icon whose stature seems to grow with the passage of time.
In this illuminating biography, Ronald L. Davis focuses on Wayne's human side, portraying a complex
personality defined by frailty and insecurity as well as by courage and strength.

Davis traces Wayne's story from its beginnings in Winterset, Iowa, to his death in 1979. This is not a
story of instant fame: only after a decade in budget westerns did Wayne receive serious consideration,
for his performance in John Ford's 1939 film Stagecoach. From that point on, his skills and popularity
grew as he appeared in such classics as Fort Apache, Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,
The Quiet Man, The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and True Grit.

A man's ideal more than a woman's, Wayne earned his popularity without becoming either a great actor or a sex
symbol. In all his films, whatever the character, John Wayne portrayed John Wayne, a persona he created for
himself: the tough, gritty loner whose mission was to uphold the traditional values of the frontierand the nation.

To depict the different facets of Wayne's life and career, Davis draws on a range of primary and secondary sources,
most notably exclusive interviews with the people who knew Wayne well, including the actor's costar, Maureen
O'Hara, and his widow, Pilar Wayne. The result is a well-balanced, highly engaging portrait of a man whose private
identity was eventually overshadowed by his screen personauntil he came to represent America itself.

Adams Morgan, trained in the theater, has appeared in venues around the United States. He has narrated for National Public Radio and performed radio dramas and historical re-enactments. He lives in New York City.

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Hamlet

Author : William Shakespeare

Performed By : Full Cast Performance

Publisher : BBC Audiobooks Ltd

Runtime : 3 hours 30 minutes

Categories : Dramatizations
Classic Literature
Audio Theater
Shakespeare
Drama

Our Price : $22.25

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Michael Sheen, Kenneth Cranham and Juliet Stevenson star in the best-known and most powerful tragedy of modern times.

BBC radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since I 923, when the newly formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard.

Those decades of experience come to fruition in this production.The intimacy of radio gives full rein to the power of Shakespeare's language, taking the listener into the very centre of Hamlet's emotional and moral turmoil.

The play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre, and the accompanying booklet includes a scene-by-scene synopsis, full character analysis, brief biographies of the leading actors and of Shakespeare himself, as well as an essay from the producer on their interpretation of the play.

Revitalised, original and comprehensive - this is Shakespeare for the new millennium.