The Price of Illusion
A Memoir
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Narrated by:
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Joan Juliet Buck
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By:
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Joan Juliet Buck
About this listen
From Joan Juliet Buck, former editor-in-chief of Paris Vogue, comes a dazzling memoir: a fabulous account of four decades spent in the creative heart of London, New York, Los Angeles, and Paris, chronicling Buck's quest to discover the difference between glitter and gold, illusion and reality, and what looks like happiness from the thing itself.
Born into a world of make-believe as the daughter of a larger-than-life film producer, Joan Juliet Buck's childhood was a whirlwind of famous faces, ever-changing home addresses, and a fascination with the shiny surfaces of things. When Joan became the first and only American woman ever to fill Paris Vogue's coveted position of editor-in-chief, a "figurehead in the cult of fashion and beauty," she had the means to re-create for her aging father, now a widower, the life he'd enjoyed during his high-flying years, a splendid illusion of glamorous excess that could not be sustained indefinitely.
Joan's memoir tells the story of a life lived in the best places at the most interesting times: London and New York in the swinging 1960s, Rome and Milan in the dangerous 1970s, Paris in the heady 1980s and 1990s. But when her fantasy life at Vogue came to an end, she had to find out who she was after all those years of make-believe.
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Story
Frances Stroh's earliest memories are ones of great privilege: shopping trips to London and New York, lunches served by black-tied waiters at the Regency Hotel, and a house filled with precious antiques, which she was forbidden to touch. Established in Detroit in 1850, by 1984 the Stroh Brewing Company had become the largest private beer fortune in America and a brand emblematic of the American dream itself; while Stroh was coming of age, the Stroh family fortune was estimated to be worth $700 million.
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Beer boring
- By Richard E. Putt Jr. on 05-22-16
By: Frances Stroh
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Fairyland
- A Memoir of My Father
- By: Alysia Abbott
- Narrated by: Alysia Abbott
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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A beautiful, vibrant memoir about growing up motherless in 1970s and 80s San Francisco with an openly gay father. After his wife dies in a car accident, bisexual writer and activist Steve Abbott moves with his two-year-old daughter to San Francisco. There they discover a city in the midst of revolution, bustling with gay men in search of liberation - few of whom are raising a child. Steve throws himself into San Francisco's vibrant cultural scene.
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Great representation of the time
- By AvidReader22 on 06-07-19
By: Alysia Abbott
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They Left Us Everything
- A Memoir
- By: Plum Johnson
- Narrated by: Pilar Witherspoon
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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After almost 20 years of caring for elderly parents - first for their senile father and then for their cantankerous 93-year-old mother - author Plum Johnson and her three younger brothers have finally fallen to their middle-aged knees with conflicted feelings of grief and relief. Now they must empty and sell the beloved family home, 23 rooms bulging with history, antiques, and oxygen tanks. Plum thought, How tough will that be? I know how to buy garbage bags. But the task turns out to be much harder and more rewarding than she ever imagined.
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Thought provoking
- By Margaret on 05-02-17
By: Plum Johnson
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Daring
- My Passages - A Memoir
- By: Gail Sheehy
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Candid, insightful, and powerful, Daring: My Passages is the story of the unconventional life of a writer who dared - to walk New York City streets with hookers and pimps to expose violent prostitution; to march with civil rights protesters in Northern Ireland as British paratroopers opened fire; to seek out Egypt's president Anwar Sadat when he was targeted for death after making peace with Israel.
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Enjoyed unexpectedly
- By Corinne O'Rourke on 09-06-23
By: Gail Sheehy
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I'm Supposed to Protect You from All This
- A Memoir
- By: Nadja Spiegelman
- Narrated by: Nadja Spiegelman
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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For a long time, Nadja Spiegelman believed her mother was a fairy. More than her famous father, Maus creator Art Spiegelman, and even more than most mothers, hers - French-born New Yorker art director Françoise Mouly - exerted a force over reality that was both dazzling and daunting. As Nadja's body changed and "began to whisper to the adults around me in a language I did not understand", their relationship grew tense.
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Aweful
- By Haley Abreu on 07-05-17
By: Nadja Spiegelman
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Mata Hari's Last Dance
- A Novel
- By: Michelle Moran
- Narrated by: Zara Ramm
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Paris, 1917. The notorious dancer Mata Hari sits in a cold cell awaiting freedom...or death. Alone and despondent, she is as confused as the rest of the world about the charges she's been arrested on: treason leading to the deaths of thousands of French soldiers. As she waits for her fate to be decided, she relays the story of her life to a reporter who is allowed to visit her in prison.
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Throughly enjoyable
- By scalante on 09-07-16
By: Michelle Moran
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Death at the Chateau Bremont
- Verlaque and Bonnet Provençal Mystery Series, Book 1
- By: M.L. Longworth
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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When local nobleman Étienne de Bremont falls to his death from the family château, it sets the historic town of Aix-en-Provence abuzz with rumors. The once-idyllic town suddenly seems filled with people who could have benefited from Bremont's death - including his playboy brother, François, who's heavily in debt and mixed up with some unsavory characters. But just as the list of suspects is being narrowed down, another death occurs. And this time, there can be no doubt - it's murder.
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Narrator is awful
- By F. M on 05-06-23
By: M.L. Longworth
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A Rather Lovely Inheritance
- By: CA Belmond
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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This is your life Penny Nichols...Penny Nichols is a historical researcher working on a big-budget film in the south of France when she gets an urgent call. Her Aunt Penelope has just died, and Penny's presence is required in London for the reading of the will. With only a slim recollection of her eccentric aunt, Penny is astonished to learn that not only is she the bona fide heiress - but she's also been invited to put her research skills to work.
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Delightful Story with Excellent Narratation
- By AnJoMom16 on 01-13-15
By: CA Belmond
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Pain, Parties, Work
- Sylvia Plath in New York, Summer 1953
- By: Elizabeth Winder
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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On May 31, 1953, 20-year-old Sylvia Plath arrived in New York City for a one-month stint at Mademoiselle to be a guest editor for its prestigious annual college issue. Over the next 26 days, the bright, blond New England collegian lived at the Barbizon Hotel, attended Balanchine ballets, watched a game at Yankee Stadium, and danced at the West Side Tennis Club. This captivating portrait invites us to see Sylvia Plath before she became an icon - a young woman with everything to live for.
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Things about Mademoiselle Magazine I never knew
- By S.Batastini on 05-27-16
By: Elizabeth Winder
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Kiss Carlo
- By: Adriana Trigiani
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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It's 1949, and South Philadelphia bursts with opportunity during the postwar boom. The Palazzini Cab Company & Western Union Telegraph Office, owned and operated by Dominic Palazzini and his three sons, is flourishing: Business is good, and they're surrounded by sympathetic wives and daughters-in-law, with grandchildren on the way. But a decades-long feud that split Dominic and his brother, Mike, and their once-close families sets the stage for a rematch.
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Wow!!
- By MCMAK on 07-16-17
By: Adriana Trigiani
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Very Valentine
- A Novel (Valentine Trilogy, Book 1)
- By: Adriana Trigiani
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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The adventures of an extraordinary and unforgettable woman as she attempts to rescue her family’s struggling shoe business and find love at the same time, Very Valentine sweeps the listener from the streets of Manhattan to the picturesque hills of Italy.
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Meh... that's all I can say
- By Tammie on 08-17-23
By: Adriana Trigiani
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The Night Ocean
- By: Paul La Farge
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Marina Willett, MD, has a problem. Her husband, Charlie, has become obsessed with H. P. Lovecraft, in particular with one episode in the legendary horror writer's life: In the summer of 1934, the "old gent" lived for two months with a gay teenage fan named Robert Barlow, at Barlow's family home in central Florida. What were the two of them up to? Were they friends - or something more? Just when Charlie thinks he's solved the puzzle, a new scandal erupts, and he disappears.
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Frustratingly Uneven Due to Clumsy Plot Structure
- By Adam on 06-15-17
By: Paul La Farge
What listeners say about The Price of Illusion
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- M.L. Curry
- 05-13-23
Every person with career dreams READ!
Readers need not be familiar with fashion glitz to take away enormous insight into finding personal authenticity in our world of deception. The European tableaus made me feel as though I were there with her.
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- GCS18
- 05-22-21
One of My Favorite Audiobooks Ever
Not only was this book perfect, I’m going to listen to it twice. Amazing life, even more amazing person growth.
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- Anonymous User
- 12-15-21
Fashion lover must read
Getting to know the tea behind some of Hollywood and fashion icons. I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish.
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- Parva Lantes
- 01-30-20
MESMERIZING, HILARIOUS, HEARTBREAKING MEMOIR
The epic adventures of a father-daughter team (mom is on the sidelines, being beautiful) navigating the magic, treachery and dangers of movies and fashion, from Hollywood to Paris to London, and all over. This book had me laughing one minute ( those descriptions of the crew at Vogue, OMG) , scared the next, (what's with the ghost in the Paris apartment ?) moved a few pages later (the death of the beautiful mother, the strange fate of Ricki the fairy godmother). And the men! How did she get those men? Why didn't she want to keep any? How did they feel about being in this book? I was constantly entertained and wanted it to go on, and on-- there have to be many more stories she didn't tell. Yes, it's very cis-gender. (Most of it takes place in the 20th century) But it's also about the power of transformation, how you can make magic but you need love to ground a life. The author ( an actress as well as a writer) does the reading, and you feel like she's giving you her heart. You could say it's about what happens when you set out to reverse the bad things that broke your father while leading a fancy life you can't afford. About becoming the least-likely ever editor in chief of Vogue (that's Paris Vogue), or about being labeled a drug addict when you're not.The crazy paradoxes in this book make it the most fun and the most surprising I've ever read (or heard ) , absolutely unlike anything else EVER. Except maybe Harry Potter, except she's a woman and it's true.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Dianne Warner
- 05-23-20
Poorest narration EVER
Beware, author narrates, which, after understanding the impetus of this book, is unsurprising since everything all the time must be about her, being seen, being heard, even drawing out her ‘perfect’ French accent to a sickening degree. After almost quitting early on, I hung on in hope that it would redeem itself; no such luck, as she explores the meaning of her life being wasted by Vogue and it’s superficial people, content, and lifestyle, apparently not understanding most readers don’t care or haven’t even heard of many of the names she dwells upon.
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- Marlette
- 12-03-19
Narcissistic name dropper
This book has no purpose other than to guide you through the life of the author a day at a time dropping names of every famous person she has ever known, slept with, saw in a magazine. There are pages of names you have never heard of. According to her, she is always right, always the most glamorous, always the belle of the ball. If you are looking for the perfect example of narcissism run amok, this book is for you!!! Otherwise it is a yawner of names, places, fancy clothes and all the shallow accouterments of a self-focused life. This woman wonders why she can never have a meaningful relationship with a man who is not married or otherwise unavailable.....gee, she is such a big presence in her own life there is no room for anyone who could stay. Skip this book, it is written only for the author.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Shayne Robinson
- 01-08-21
Hire a narrator
Great story, great accomplished lady but monotonous dull performance makes it a real snooze sadly
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