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My Trade Is Mystery
- Seven Meditations from a Life in Writing
- Narrated by: Carl Phillips
- Length: 2 hrs and 18 mins
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My Trade Is Mystery
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Publisher's summary
An invaluable companion for writers at every stage of their journey to make the writing life a more complex and cooperative venture.
In this intimate and eloquent meditation, the award-winning poet Carl Phillips shares lessons he has learned about what he calls an “apprenticeship to what can never fully be mastered”, through 40 years of teaching and mentoring emerging writers. He weaves together his experiences as a poet and prose writer with discussions of underexplored elements of the writing life, including ambition, stamina, silence, politics, practice, audience, and community.
In the tradition of Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet, and Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, this is an invaluable companion for writers at every stage of their journey. Phillips’ book serves as a partner in speculation and an invitation to embrace mystery.
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- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 72
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 55
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Story5 out of 5 stars 54
So often deployed as a jingoistic, even menacing rallying cry, or limited by a focus on passing moments of liberation, the rhetoric of freedom both rouses and repels. Does it remain key to our autonomy, justice, and well-being, or is freedom's long star turn coming to a close? Does a continued obsession with the term enliven and emancipate, or reflect a deepening nihilism (or both)? On Freedom examines such questions by tracing the concept's complexities in four distinct realms: art, sex, drugs, and climate.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Just great
- By Kristi Strong on 12-14-21
By: Maggie Nelson
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Walking in This World
- The Practical Art of Creativity
- By: Julia Cameron
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 203
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 147
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 145
Walking in This World picks up where Julia Cameron's best-selling book on the creative process, The Artist's Way, left off to present readers with a second course, part two in an amazing journey toward discovering our human potential. Full of valuable new strategies and techniques for breaking through difficult creative ground, this is the "intermediate level" of the Artist's Way program.
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1 out of 5 stars
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I wish there was a zero star rating
- By Jason on 04-24-07
By: Julia Cameron
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At the Existentialist Café
- Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails
- By: Sarah Bakewell
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,050
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 924
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 918
Paris, 1933: Three contemporaries meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are the young Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and longtime friend Raymond Aron, a fellow philosopher who raves to them about a new conceptual framework from Berlin called phenomenology. "You see," he says, "if you are a phenomenologist, you can talk about this cocktail and make philosophy out of it!"
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4 out of 5 stars
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Consistent look at incoherent philosophy
- By Gary on 06-19-16
By: Sarah Bakewell
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The Artisan Soul
- Crafting Your Life into a Work of Art
- By: Erwin Raphael McManus
- Narrated by: Erwin Raphael McManus
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 271
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 238
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 236
In The Artisan Soul, Erwin Raphael McManus, author, thought leader, and founder of MOSAIC in Los Angeles, pens a manifesto for human creativity and the beginning of a new renaissance. McManus not only calls us to reclaim our creative essence but reveals how we can craft our lives into works of art. There are no shortcuts to quality, and McManus celebrates the spiritual process that can help us discover our true selves.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Bravo
- By Achley on 05-20-16
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The Curmudgeon's Guide to Getting Ahead
- Dos and Don'ts of Right Behavior, Tough Thinking, Clear Writing, and Living a Good Life
- By: Charles Murray
- Narrated by: Charles Murray
- Length: 3 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 736
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 632
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Story4 out of 5 stars 628
Best-selling social historian Charles Murray has written a delightfully fussy - and entertaining - book on the hidden rules of the road in the workplace - and in life - from the standpoint of an admonishing, but encouraging, workplace grouch and taskmaster. Why the curmudgeon? The fact is that most older, more senior people in the workplace are closet curmudgeons. In today's politically correct world, they may hide their displeasure over your misuse of grammar or your overly familiar use of their first name without an express invitation. But don't be fooled by their pleasant demeanor....
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good Book: From one curmudgeon to another
- By DaWoolf on 05-22-14
By: Charles Murray
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A Religion of One's Own
- A Guide to Creating a Personal Spirituality in a Secular World
- By: Thomas Moore
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 164
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 135
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 135
The New York Times best-selling author and trusted spiritual adviser offers a follow up to his classic Care of the Soul. Something essential is missing from modern life. Many who've turned away from religious institutions - and others who have lived wholly without religion - hunger for more than what contemporary secular life has to offer but are reluctant to follow organized religion's strict and often inflexible path to spirituality. In A Religion of One' s Own, best-selling author and former monk Thomas Moore explores the myriad possibilities of creating a personal spiritual style, either inside or outside formal religion.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Powerful and Inspiring
- By Amazon Customer on 05-25-16
By: Thomas Moore
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If I Had Lunch with C. S. Lewis
- Exploring the Ideas of C. S. Lewis on the Meaning of Life
- By: Alister McGrath
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
Have you ever wondered…whether God exists? whether life has meaning? Whether pain and suffering have a purpose? This audiobook is my invitation to sit down with C. S. Lewis and me to think about some of the persistent questions and dilemmas every person faces in life. We’ll explore Lewis’s thoughts on everything from friendships to heaven, from the reasons for faith to the power of stories.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A great overview
- By Kevin on 12-31-14
By: Alister McGrath
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50 Self-Help Classics
- By: Tom Butler-Bowdon
- Narrated by: Jack Garrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 312
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 111
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Story4 out of 5 stars 113
Discover the books that have already changed the lives of millions. This award-winning, unabridged guide to the "literature of possibility" surveys 50 of the all-time classics, giving you their key ideas, insights, and applications, everything you need to know to start benefiting from these legendary works.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Surprisingly Interesting
- By Cathy Dopp on 10-15-06
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The Courage to Create
- By: Rollo May
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 201
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 166
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 167
What if imagination and art are not, as many of us might think, the frosting on life but the fountainhead of human experience? What if our logic and science derive from art forms rather than the other way around? In this trenchant volume, Rollo May helps all of us find those creative impulses that, once liberated, offer new possibilities for achievement. A renowned therapist and inspiring guide, Dr. May draws on his experience to show how we can break out of old patterns in our lives.
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5 out of 5 stars
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May takes on the Creative Act
- By Lowball on 01-16-19
By: Rollo May
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Secular Buddhism
- Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 72
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 61
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Story4 out of 5 stars 59
As the practice of mindfulness permeates mainstream western culture, more and more people are engaging in a traditional form of Buddhist meditation. However, many of these people have little interest in the religious aspects of Buddhism, and the practice occurs within secular contexts such as hospitals, schools, and the workplace. Is it possible to recover from the Buddhist teachings a vision of human flourishing that is secular rather than religious without compromising the integrity of the tradition?
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good, but repetition of old material
- By Ludwig on 02-25-18
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Cultural Amnesia
- Notes in the Margin of My Time
- By: Clive James
- Narrated by: Clive James
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 148
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 103
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 102
From Anna Akhmatova to Stefan Zweig, via Charles de Gaulle, Hitler, Thomas Mann and Charlie Chaplin, this varied and unfailingly absorbing book is both story and history, both public memoir and personal record - and provides an essential field-guide to the vast movements of taste, intellect, politics and delusion that helped to prepare the times we live in now.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Very enjoyable and well narrated
- By Larbi on 05-18-08
By: Clive James
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Big Magic
- Creative Living Beyond Fear
- By: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 26,568
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 23,294
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 23,148
People of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Biggest Inspiration In a Long Time
- By Gillian on 09-23-15
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The Dharma of the Princess Bride
- What the Coolest Fairy Tale of Our Time Can Teach Us About Buddhism and Relationships
- By: Ethan Nichtern
- Narrated by: Ethan Nichtern
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 69
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
Humorous yet spiritually rigorous, drawing from pop culture and from personal experience, The Dharma of "The Princess Bride" teaches us how to understand and navigate our most important personal relationships from a 21st-century Buddhist perspective. Friendship. Romance. Family. These are the three areas Ethan Nichtern delves into, taking as departure points the indelible characters - Westley, Fezzik, Vizzini, Count Rugen, Princess Buttercup, and others from Rob Reiner's perennially popular film.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A fun and refreshing take on Buddhism
- By Oak Grove on 12-06-17
By: Ethan Nichtern
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The Daily Laws
- 366 Meditations on Power, Seduction, Mastery, Strategy, and Human Nature
- By: Robert Greene
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Robert Greene
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 870
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 726
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Story5 out of 5 stars 723
From the world’s foremost expert on power and strategy comes a daily devotional designed to help you seize your destiny.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Chapters are Busted
- By Colin on 10-12-21
By: Robert Greene
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Time of the Magicians
- Wittgenstein, Benjamin, Cassirer, Heidegger, and the Decade that Reinvented Philosophy
- By: Wolfram Eilenberger, Shaun Whiteside
- Narrated by: Rhett Samuel Price
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 136
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 111
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 110
The year is 1919. The horror of the First World War is fresh for the protagonists of Time of the Magicians, each of whom finds himself at a crucial juncture. Benjamin is trying to flee his overbearing father and floundering in his academic career, living hand to mouth as a critic. Wittgenstein, by contrast, has dramatically decided to divest himself of the monumental fortune he stands to inherit, in search of spiritual clarity.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Narrator butchers foreign many language quotations
- By William G. Brown on 08-31-20
By: Wolfram Eilenberger, and others
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What listeners say about My Trade Is Mystery
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Beth Casteel
- 11-22-22
Outstanding
Beautiful words to inspire any writer. Loved this. And having Carl narrate was wonderful - so calm and peaceful and beautiful.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Tom
- 05-28-24
Useful framework of tools for Writers and the rest of us
Nice combination of DIY Manual and Thought Piece not just for professional Poets and Writers but enjoyable for anyone who wants to embark on a project. His insights are often very personal but that only conveys a sense of Humanity and Authenticity that Readers will appreciate.
Four Stars. ****
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