
If
The Untold Story of Kipling's American Years
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Narrated by:
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Joshua Kane
About this listen
A New York Times Notable Book of 2019
A unique exploration of the life and work of Rudyard Kipling in Gilded Age America, from a celebrated scholar of American literature
At the turn of the 20th century, Rudyard Kipling towered over not just English literature, but the entire literary world. At the height of his fame in 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, becoming its youngest winner. His influence on major figures - including Freud and William James - was pervasive and profound. But in recent decades Kipling’s reputation has suffered a strange eclipse. Though his body of work still looms large, and his monumental poem “If” is quoted and referenced by politicians, athletes, and ordinary readers/listeners alike, his unabashed imperialist views have come under increased scrutiny.
In If, scholar Christopher Benfey brings this fascinating and complex writer to life, and, for the first time, gives full attention to Kipling's intense engagement with the United States - a rarely discussed but critical piece of evidence in our understanding of this man and his enduring legacy. Benfey traces the writer’s deep involvement with America over one crucial decade, from 1889 to 1899, when he lived for four years in Brattleboro, Vermont, and sought deliberately to turn himself into a specifically American writer. It was his most prodigious and creative period, as well as his happiest, during which he wrote The Jungle Book and Captains Courageous. Had a family dispute not forced his departure, Kipling almost certainly would have stayed. Leaving was the hardest thing he ever had to do, Kipling said. “There are only two places in the world where I want to live,” he lamented, “Bombay and Brattleboro. And I can’t live in either.”
In this fresh examination of Kipling, Benfey hangs a provocative “what if” over Kipling’s American years and maps the imprint Kipling left on his adopted country, as well as the imprint the country left on him. If proves there is relevance and magnificence to be found in Kipling’s work.
©2019 Christopher Benfey (P)2019 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“This biography will urge those unfamiliar with Kipling’s works (e.g., If, Kim, The Jungle Book) to read the classics that solidified his reputation here and abroad, earning him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901. Highly recommended.” (Library Journal)
“Intelligent and well-researched.... An accessible and enlightening biography.” (Kirkus Reviews)
“Christopher Benfey’s wise and spirited If arrives at just the right moment. His canny account of Rudyard Kipling’s years in America - when, surprisingly, this exemplar of British empire wrote or conceived his best remembered works - and of Kipling’s long-lasting impact on American political and cultural life resonates powerfully in our vexed and virulent present. Whether or not you grew up on Kim and The Jungle Book, Benfey skillfully proves in this essential study of imperial influence through the written word, you are living in their long shadow.” (Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life and Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast)
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When Forrest Fenn was given a fatal cancer diagnosis, he came up with a bold plan: He would hide a chest full of jewels and gold in the wilderness, and publish a poem that would serve as a map leading to the treasure's secret location. But he didn't die, and after hiding the treasure in 2010, Fenn instead presided over a decade-long gold rush that saw many thousands of treasure hunters scrambling across the Rocky Mountains in pursuit of his fortune.
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Wonderful Adventure!
- By Smartypants on 05-25-21
By: Daniel Barbarisi
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Let Me Not Be Mad
- My Story of Unraveling Minds
- By: A. K. Benjamin
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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What do doctors actually think about when you list your problems in the consulting room? Are they really listening to you? Is the connection all in your head? Every day for 10 years - even while his hospital became the set for a reality television series - clinical neuropsychologist A. K. Benjamin confronted these questions, and this book is his attempt to tell the truth about what happens in these rooms in hospitals the world over.
By: A. K. Benjamin
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Beyond the Throne
- Epic Journeys, Enduring Friendships, and Surprising Tales
- By: Kristian Nairn
- Narrated by: Kristian Nairn
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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The story of an unlikely hero who fulfilled his destiny… Fans will be fascinated by Kristian Nairn’s experience on Game of Thrones, from his unlikely audition to his on-the-job training as an actor to his ascendance as one of the most beloved and pivotal characters on the show. Nairn details the camaraderie that develops as the actors face the elements on set, not entirely unlike the ones their characters must endure on screen, as well as the life-altering effects of worldwide stardom.
By: Kristian Nairn
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Sleeping with Strangers
- How the Movies Shaped Desire
- By: David Thomson
- Narrated by: David Thomson
- Length: 17 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In this wholly original work of film criticism, David Thomson, celebrated author of The Biographical Dictionary of Film, probes the many ways in which sexuality has shaped the movies - and the ways in which the movies have shaped sexuality.
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Another good read from David Thomson
- By Boxing Fan on 07-23-23
By: David Thomson
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Pillar of Fire
- America in the King Years 1963-65
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards, Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 29 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch, the second part of his epic trilogy on Martin Luther King, Jr. and the American Civil Rights Movement. In the second volume of his three-part history, a monumental trilogy that began with Parting the Waters, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, Taylor Branch portrays the Civil Rights Movement at its zenith, recounting the climactic struggles as they commanded the national stage.
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Excellent Treatment of Movement's Middle Years
- By Chris Hummel on 02-19-22
By: Taylor Branch
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The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames
- A Memoir
- By: Justine Cowan
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Justine had always been told that her mother came from royal blood. The proof could be found in her mother’s elegance, in the upper-crust London accent she had never shed - and in a cryptic letter hinting at her claim to a country estate. But beneath the polished veneer lay a fearsome, unpredictable temper that drove Justine from home the moment she was old enough to escape. Years later, when her mother sent her an envelope filled with secrets from a past that had never been spoken about, Justine buried it in the back of an old filing cabinet.
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Enlightening
- By May L. on 06-29-22
By: Justine Cowan
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The Beneficiary
- Fortune, Misfortune, and the Story of My Father
- By: Janny Scott
- Narrated by: Janny Scott
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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A parable for the new age of inequality: part family history, part detective story, part history of a vanishing class, and a vividly compelling exploration of the degree to which an inheritance - financial, cultural, genetic - conspired in one person's self-destruction.
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Buy A Hard Copy
- By NFox on 06-08-19
By: Janny Scott
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Learning by Heart
- An Unconventional Education
- By: Tony Wagner
- Narrated by: Tony Wagner
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Tony Wagner is an eminent education specialist: He has taught at every grade level from high school through graduate school; worked at Harvard; done significant work for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and speaks across the country and all over the world. But before he found his success, Wagner was kicked out of middle school, expelled from high school, and dropped out of two colleges. Learning by Heart is his powerful account of his years as a student and teacher.
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A great story of a great educator
- By Elizabeth on 12-31-24
By: Tony Wagner
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The Truffle Underground
- A Tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and Manipulation in the Shadowy Market of the World's Most Expensive Fungus
- By: Ryan Jacobs
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Beneath the gloss of star chefs and crystal-laden tables, the truffle supply chain is touched by theft, secrecy, sabotage, and fraud. Farmers patrol their fields with rifles and fear losing trade secrets to spies. Hunters plant poisoned meatballs to eliminate rival truffle-hunting dogs. Naive buyers and even experts are duped by liars and counterfeits. Deeply reported and elegantly written, this exposé documents the dark, sometimes deadly crimes at each level of the truffle’s path from ground to plate, making sense of an industry that traffics in scarcity, seduction, and cash.
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Never knew the behind the scenes story
- By Mike on 07-24-19
By: Ryan Jacobs
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The Habit of Rivers
- Reflections on Trout Streams and Fly Fishing
- By: Ted Leeson, John Gierach - foreword
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Originally published in 1994, this book was a fly-fishing phenomenon in the way Howell Raines' Fly Fishing Through the Mid-Life Crisis was. Taking his fishing hobby to near metaphysical levels, Ted Leeson tells about his passions: rivers, trout, and fly fishing. With wry humor and rare insight, he explores questions that engage most fishermen: What is it about rivers that draws us so irresistibly, and why does fly fishing seem such an aptly suited response?
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Greatest Book I've Ever Listened To.
- By Travis on 03-17-18
By: Ted Leeson, and others
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HBCU Made
- A Celebration of the Black College Experience
- By: Ayesha Rascoe
- Narrated by: Ayesha Rascoe, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Brandon Gilpin, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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With a diverse set of contributors, including Oprah Winfrey, Stacey Abrams, and Branford Marsalis, HBCU Made celebrates the experience of going to a historically Black college or university. In moving essays, a wide range of alums share their accounts of how they chose their HBCU, their first days on campus, the dynamic atmosphere, and how they were shaped by their rigorous training.
By: Ayesha Rascoe
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This Ordinary Stardust
- A Scientist's Path from Grief to Wonder
- By: Alan Townsend PhD
- Narrated by: Alan Townsend PhD
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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At a time when society’s relationship with science is increasingly polarized while threats to human life on earth continue to rise, Townsend offers a balanced, moving perspective on the common ground between science and religion through the spiritual fulfillment he found in his work. Awash in Townsend's electrifying and breathtaking prose, THIS ORDINARY STARDUST offers hope that life can carry on even in the face of near-certain annihilation.
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Inspirational and touching!
- By Grace M on 08-18-24
What listeners say about If
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anonymous User
- 06-03-20
PRINT IS TOO DIM for n this “headline” box and in the “review” box below.
I accidentally gave the performance one and a half stars too many. There were a few mispronunciations.
You should also have a way to give half-stars.
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- Glen W. Stinnett
- 09-23-19
Chris Benfey’s ‘IF’ A MUST AUDIOBOOK
It’s continuity was prolifically whatever that means.
Of course ‘that’ is a pronoun. How about changing to
Profound. I ask your editor to correct my errors.
Bye for now Glen ;-)
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1 person found this helpful