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A Little Life

By: Hanya Yanagihara
Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
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Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century.

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE

A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves.

Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.

©2022 Penguin Random House Audio (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Featured Article: The Audible Essentials Top 100


The spirited (but friendly) debate over these titles could have gone on indefinitely. With years of listening, countless customer reviews, and a catalog of seemingly infinite great listens, 100 suddenly felt like a very small number. What we know for sure—each title that made it to this collection is elevated and made special in some way by audio, whether by a layered performance from a single narrator, a brilliantly cohesive full cast, original music, or immersive sound effects. Discover an audio experience for the ages.

What listeners say about A Little Life

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    1,869
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    283
  • 3 Stars
    150
  • 2 Stars
    92
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    86
  • 2 Stars
    34
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    1,735
  • 4 Stars
    281
  • 3 Stars
    117
  • 2 Stars
    69
  • 1 Stars
    134

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Heartbreaking

I’d give the story 5 stars but it’s the most depressing book I’ve ever experienced. Written so gorgeously too. Can’t say if I’d recommend but this one will stay with me for a while and now I want a physical copy to read in a year or two or five. The narrator is absolutely amazing and kept me enthralled the entire listen.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful, and emotionally heavy

This book is misery porn; heartbreaking for all involved.
I fell in love with the story and characters.
Trigger Warnings: Sexual Assaults, Child Abuse of every kind, drug use, suicide, homosexual relationships, straight relationships, self harm, cutting, and abduction. The author approaches all with a delicate, visceral, realism.

Light synopsis:
Jude, an attorney, has deep, festering emotional scars from physical, emotional, sexual abuse from a child through teen age years.
He’s a humpty-dumpty one crack away from shattering. He has friends whom he hides his pain from, and never brings up his tragic past. The story spans 40 something years.

This is an extremely sad story. You will not feel good afterwards…but I loved it still. This is misery porn at it’s finest.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So beautiful, heart rending, and tragic story narrated perfectly.

I knew, somewhat, I was getting into a long, painful story once I bought this audiobook. But what I ended up getting was a beautiful story about love, trust, heartbreak, and the long-term, wide-reaching effects of abuse. The author is unflinching in their description of abuse. They paint the characters lives perfectly, balancing their hardships with moments of love and connection. This story is not for everyone but is well worth the emotional rollercoaster it takes you on.

The narrator adds so much to the experience too. His pacing is perfect and without much flourish. There were moments where the emotional intensity of the scenes were conveyed in the narrator’s voice.

Overall, highly recommend this book as long as it is something you want to experience.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Get the audiobook if you’re going to read this book!

This was my favorite book I’ve ever read and the incredible voice performance in this audiobook lent itself even more to my experience. I used the audiobook and physical copy of the book together and having it read to me by such a soothing—and at times, emotional—voice improved my enjoyment of the book tenfold and helped me understand some parts that I most likely would have had to reread to understand if I was just reading the book alone.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Be prepared to feel feelings.

I’m not one much for feelings but I can’t begin to describe how good and gut wrenching this book is. I’ve never had a book make me feel this way before.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

painfully beautiful

cried so many times I lost count. lost count of how many times it was a happy cry or sad cry. the writing is amazing, shocking and a times rough to listen through but if and when you finish you will never forgot this book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

CRYING

Huge trigger warning but it was absolutely beautiful from the second it starts to the second it ends, one of my favorites

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The best/worst story

Really really really well narrated. I started this book on audible only.. but then quickly needed to read along with the book. Im glad i had this on audible for the voices of the characters but also to continue when my eyes were full of tears and my whole face was puffy. The painful story this book tells will live in me for some time..

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Heartbreaking

One of the most beautiful, profound and sincere books I’ve ever read - but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone as it would break their heart too.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Took me a while

Took me months to get through this book. Not because it’s boring or bad but because it’s so heartbreaking to listen to. I’m gonna miss these characters. I don’t know if this is a book I can read/listen to more than once if i’m being honest. You definitely have to be in a good mental space to listen to this.

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