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Tinderbox
- The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
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Publisher's summary
Buried for decades, the Up Stairs Lounge tragedy has only recently emerged as a catalyzing event of the gay liberation movement. In revelatory detail, Robert W. Fieseler chronicles the tragic event that claimed the lives of 31 men and one woman on June 24, 1973, at a New Orleans bar, the largest mass murder of gays until 2016.
Relying on unprecedented access to survivors and archives, Fieseler creates an indelible portrait of a closeted, blue-collar gay world that flourished before an arsonist ignited an inferno that destroyed an entire community. The aftermath was no less traumatic - families ashamed to claim loved ones, the Catholic Church refusing proper burial rights, the city impervious to the survivors' needs - revealing a world of toxic prejudice that thrived well past Stonewall. Yet the impassioned activism that followed proved essential to the emergence of a fledgling gay movement. Tinderbox restores honor to a forgotten generation of civil-rights martyrs.
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- Unabridged
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Rudy Giuliani was hailed after 9/11 as “America’s Mayor,” a national hero who, at the time, was more widely admired than the pope. He was brilliant, accomplished—and complicated. He conflated politics with morality, made reckless personal choices, and engaged in self-destructive behavior. A series of disastrous decisions and cynical compromises, coupled with his need for power, money, and attention gradually ruined his reputation, cost him political support, and ultimately damaged the country.
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You Clearly See His Story
- By Anonymous User on 10-06-23
By: Andrew Kirtzman
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To Sleep with the Angels
- The Story of a Fire
- By: David Cowan, John Kuenster
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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If burying a child has a special poignancy, the tragedy at a Catholic elementary school in Chicago more than 50 years ago was an extraordinary moment of grief. One of the deadliest fires in American history, it took the lives of 92 children and three nuns at Our Lady of the Angels School, left many families physically and psychologically scarred for life, and destroyed a close-knit working-class neighborhood.
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amazingly gripping
- By Jeremiah Rubottom on 10-12-18
By: David Cowan, and others
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Empire of Sin
- By: Gary Krist
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Empire of Sin re-creates the remarkable story of New Orleans' 30-years war against itself, pitting the city's elite "better half" against its powerful and long-entrenched underworld of vice, perversity, and crime. This early-20th-century battle centers on one man: Tom Anderson, the undisputed czar of the city's Storyville vice district, who fights desperately to keep his empire intact as it faces onslaughts from all sides.
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very interesting
- By Claireoline on 02-20-15
By: Gary Krist
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The Meaning of Matthew
- My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed
- By: Judy Shepard
- Narrated by: Judy Shepard
- Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The mother of Matthew Shepard shares her story about her son's death and the choice she made to become an international gay rights activist.
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Heart breaking story
- By sherry on 08-10-12
By: Judy Shepard
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Season of the Witch
- Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love
- By: David Talbot
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 16 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Season of the Witch is the first book to fully capture the dark magic of San Francisco in this breathtaking period, when the city radically changed itself - and then revolutionized the world. The cool gray city of love was the epicenter of the 1960s cultural revolution. But by the early 1970s, San Francisco’s ecstatic experiment came crashing down from its starry heights. The city was rocked by savage murder sprees, mysterious terror campaigns, political assassinations, street riots, and finally a terrifying sexual epidemic.
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Gripping, important history - well told
- By The Companion on 05-21-12
By: David Talbot
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Road to Jonestown
- Jim Jones and Peoples Temple
- By: Jeff Guinn
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 1950s, a young Indianapolis minister named Jim Jones preached a curious blend of the gospel and Marxism. His congregation was racially mixed, and he was a leader in the early civil rights movement. Eventually, Jones moved his church, Peoples Temple, to northern California, where he got involved in electoral politics and became a prominent Bay Area leader. But underneath the surface lurked a terrible darkness.
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An Important Accurate Historical Report
- By Julia on 08-24-17
By: Jeff Guinn
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Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right
- Opinionated Columns on American Life
- By: Michael Smerconish
- Narrated by: Michael Smerconish
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Opinionated talk show host and columnist Michael Smerconish has been chronicling local, state, and national events for the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer for more than 15 years. He has sounded off on topics as diverse as the hunt for Osama bin Laden and what the color of your Christmas lights says about you. In this collection of 100 of his most memorable columns, Smerconish reflects on American political life with his characteristic feistiness.
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All about Smerc and who cares about the victims
- By Mark J. Rosen on 12-10-20
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Incendiary
- The Psychiatrist, the Mad Bomber, and the Invention of Criminal Profiling
- By: Michael Cannell
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Long before the specter of terrorism haunted the public imagination, a serial bomber stalked the streets of 1950s New York. The race to catch him would give birth to a new science called criminal profiling. Grand Central, Penn Station, Radio City Music Hall - for almost two decades, no place was safe from the man who signed his anonymous letters "FP" and left his lethal devices in phone booths, storage lockers, even tucked into the plush seats of movie theaters.
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16 Years NYC Held Hostage
- By in1ear (John Row) on 04-27-17
By: Michael Cannell
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City of Scoundrels
- The 12 Days of Disaster That Gave Birth to Modern Chicago
- By: Gary Krist
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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When 1919 began, the city of Chicago seemed on the verge of transformation. Modernizers had an audacious, expensive plan to turn the city from a brawling, unglamorous place into "the Metropolis of the World". But just as the dream seemed within reach, pandemonium broke loose and the city’s highest ambitions were suddenly under attack by the same unbridled energies that had given birth to them in the first place.
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Great History of a Great City
- By Cookie on 08-30-12
By: Gary Krist
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Tinseltown
- Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
- By: William J. Mann
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America's new favorite pastime and one of the nation's largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence; yet Hollywood's glittering ascendancy was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies - including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now.
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Everybody's a dreamer...
- By Steven on 01-08-15
By: William J. Mann
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Going Clear
- Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
- By: Lawrence Wright
- Narrated by: Morton Sellers
- Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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A clear-sighted revelation, a deep penetration into the world of Scientology by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower, the now-classic study of al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attack. Based on more than two hundred personal interviews with current and former Scientologists—both famous and less well known—and years of archival research, Lawrence Wright uses his extraordinary investigative ability to uncover for us the inner workings of the Church of Scientology.
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Shockingly Great
- By Michael on 01-27-13
By: Lawrence Wright
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Triangle
- The Fire That Changed America
- By: David Von Drehle
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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On March 25, 1911, as workers were getting ready to leave for the day, a fire broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York's Greenwich Village. Within minutes it spread to consume the building's upper three stories. Firemen who arrived at the scene were unable to rescue those trapped inside: their ladders simply weren't tall enough. People on the street watched in horror as desperate workers jumped to their deaths. It was the worst disaster in New York City history.
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Interesting but Loong
- By JAS on 04-21-18
By: David Von Drehle
What listeners say about Tinderbox
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Christopher
- 01-18-19
Incredible
This book was heartbreaking and infuriating at the same time. My heart goes out to all those who lost loved ones on that night in June 1973. I am also appalled that this is not more widely known about. I listened to this entire book in two sittings. I could not stop listening. The writing is excellent, and the narrator is phenomenal. You can hear the anger and disgust in his voice at points in the story, as well as sounding on the verge of tears in others (as I was at many points in the story). I highly recommend this book to everyone!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 09-19-18
Excellent and Informative
This book is very thoroughly researched and very well written. The reader does and incredible job creating shock, outrage, and pathos.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Samantha Ruegge-Winn
- 10-25-19
New Orleanians are Picky
I am a New Orleanian, born, and reared in the city. I picked this book because I wanted to learn more about the Upstairs Lounge fire. I thought the book was very well done and I learned a lot. My issue is the person picked for the narration, Mr. Heitsch. He consistently mispronounces all of the local names. I know that we have interesting pronunciations ourselves, but I really would have liked my audible experience more if he had attempted to get a few of the names correct. His New Orleeens, Fay Doo Doo, Jim-man-ee Lounge, and the like were painful to listen to. I guess no one participating in or overseeing this project was actually from New Orleans.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Dr. Chris P. Hafner
- 05-08-19
Compelling Account-Robotic-sounding narration
This important account of an ignored/buried hate-crime fills a critical gap in LGBTQ & civil-rights history. My big peeve is that the narrator has a ridiculously monotone voice which could almost lull one to sleep despite the captivating story.
~Dr. Chris P. Hafner, PhD, MPH, ND
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2 people found this helpful
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- Mamaof2
- 07-19-18
Amazing!!
Robert did an amazing job with this book! I learned about it from the podcast Beyond Bourbon Street and had to hear it myself! Having been born and raised in the 90s, I had never heard of the Upstairs Lounge. This book brought to light major issues in the way the case was handled and is still handled today. The legality of how it was handled was brought to light and shows you what needs to be done to prevent something of this magnitude from happening again!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jack
- 07-26-23
Heartfelt
A heartfelt message to the ups and downs of the gay community. To live a closeted life to fit in with society had to be exhausting. This was well written and tastefully presented.
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- Gully
- 09-06-23
Interesting and Informative
I sadly had not heard of this fire before, perhaps as I was only a pre-teen when it occurred. For those wanting details of the fire event itself, it is here. To learn about how the LGBTQ community was treated "back then" and how those who perished in the fire were finally commemorated decades later, that is here as well. The author did thorough research.
The narrator was easy to listen to and spoke at a normal pace.
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- Calluna Vulgaris
- 07-03-21
Phenomenal Writing and Oration
Warning: Do not read Chapter 4 in public. I had the unpleasant experience of telling numerous Starbucks patrons that my sobs, tears, and tissues were not the result of personal troubles, but piercing heartbreak brought on by an excellent narrator. I give Paul Heitsch the greatest respect for orating Fieseler’s tale with such feeling—there were several moments when I had to wonder if he, like me, had to put the text aside to compose himself. This is an excellent title for those studying LGBTQ history or Gay Liberation, or even true crime junkies. 10/10 would absolutely recommend.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Miriam A. Denis-harper
- 05-22-19
Aweful pronunciation
Paul Heitsh has obviously never been to New Orleans and did no research for this production. He mispronounced proper names, businesses and locations throughout the book.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-04-23
Very Poor Pronunciation, Basic Writing
I was glad to finally see a book that told the story of this tragedy, but it did not meet expectations.
The author unsuccessfully and tenuously tries to connect the UpStairs fire to the broader gay liberation movement. Filled with clunky turns of phrase, the storytelling read like a Wiki 101 introduction to LGBT rights and was non-intersectional in its approach to discussing the systemic failures surrounding the response to the fire. Comparing the fire to the 16th St Baptist church bombing, a horrific hate crime, was in incredibly poor taste. The book was also marred by the author’s respectability politics.
Pronunciation of names and places was inexcusable and so poor that I could not finish the audiobook.
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