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  • American Prometheus

  • The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
  • By: Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
  • Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
  • Length: 26 hrs and 30 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (299 ratings)
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American Prometheus cover art

American Prometheus

By: Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
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Summary

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • The definitive biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress.

THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
OPPENHEIMER

J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress.

When he proposed international controls over atomic materials, opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, and criticized plans for a nuclear war, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup during the anti-Communist hysteria of the early 1950s. They declared that Oppenheimer could not be trusted with America’s nuclear secrets.

In this magisterial biography twenty-five years in the making, which won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for biography, the authors capture Oppenheimer’s life and times, from his early career to his central role in the Cold War.

©2005 Kai Bird; 2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

Pulitzer Prize Winner, Biography, 2006

"The definitive biography....Oppenheimer's life doesn't influence us. It haunts us." (Newsweek)
"[A] profoundly fascinating, richly complex, and ineffably sad American life....Bird and Sherwin are without peer...in capturing the humanity of the man." (Booklist)
"A work of voluminous scholarship and lucid insight, unifying its multifaceted portrait with a keen grasp of Oppenheimer's essential nature....It succeeds in deeply fathoming his most damaging, self-contradictory behavior." (New York Times)

What listeners say about American Prometheus

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

Spoilt by a very poor recording

Imagine you’re reading a great book: perhaps you delight not only in the author’s skill with the pen, but also that of the typographer who has lovingly crafted the spacing, the line breaks and the hyphenation to ensure that the appearance of the type is as appealing as the story itself. Imagine then, that you turn the page only to find a single sentence set, not only in a different typeface, but also larger and poorly spaced. Reading further, you find odd passages here and there, sometimes just a few words, sometimes complete paragraphs that are set completely differently to the rest of the book. That is the visual equivalent of listening to this book, the recording of which is continuously interspersed with re-recorded passages that have a different quality than the original.

Although I’d read complaints about this in other reviews, I never imagined the extent to which it occurs. In almost every case, it’s a sentence that contains a name that’s either foreign or difficult to pronounce. It occurs so often that you can’t help wondering if it wouldn’t have been easier to have simply re-recorded the entire book. It’s jarring and, for me at least, interrupted and spoilt the narrative.

In a book that, thanks to the nature of its content, is riddled with foreign names and complicated words, you’d think that the producer, at least, would have either checked the pronunciations or chosen a narrator a little more au fait with foreign expressions and pronunciation. It’s very sad, because it’s an otherwise fascinating and well written book.

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17 people found this helpful

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

Unfortunately I returned it.

As others have said, the narration has been seamlessly spliced in to areas where the pronunciation needed to be corrected *sarcasm*. The first splice is the worst. The others later in the book sound like the narrator has decided to put a bucket on his head while talking.

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10 people found this helpful

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

A fascinating text destroyed by shoddy production.

Either the publisher didn't listen to the finished recording or they did, and don't care about the listeners or being associated with such utter trash.

For the love of Christ, and out of respect for the authors, who have done an amazing job and who I'd imagine are rightly furious with this second rate presentation, spend whatever it takes to get it properly re-recorded and edited by someone with ears. I want my money back.

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7 people found this helpful

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

Interesting content ruined by production

Riddled by re-recorded sections produced with wholly different volume and pacing which makes sections feel like listening to an automated phone system.

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7 people found this helpful

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

Definitive biography but poor production

Very detailed bio. But the audio, recorded back in 2007, is pretty ropey with varying sound volume and obvious edits.

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5 people found this helpful

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

Loved the book, but hated the production

This is a great book - but it's very audibly stitched together from various recording sessions - every couple of sentences, there is a notable change in room ambience, or volume / tone, which I found very distracting at first, its something you get used to - but I expected better for such a prestigious book.

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5 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

A book everyone should read

I tend to avoid biographies, I prefer the escapism fiction brings you. But this book is so important a story of what politics, narrow-mindedness, and power in the wrong hands can do to a person who deserves nothing more than the utmost respect, that I would read again and recommend to everyone that will listen. It’s also incredibly frightening that some of the themes of Western arrogance, government paranoia and political hypocrisy are so recognisable even today, 70 years after the AEC trial described.

I know other reviewers have criticised the change in accent, voice and tone through the book. I actually feel these only enhance the narration and the story, and go a long way towards preventing a long, verbose and complex subject being lost for the everyday reader. It’s a credit to the authors and the narrator that a discussion of atomic physics and other complicated subjects don’t even once become boring. Rarely does a book make me excited to watch the film, but after this I cannot wait to see the Christopher Nolan cinematic dramatisation, after which I will undoubtedly listen to the book once more.

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3 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

Fascinating biography

I never read biographies or autobiographies but I was fascinated by the man after watching Oppenheimer. This is written so well, it’s almost like a story.

The reviews saying the narration is choppy have completely missed the point; the changes in intonation are when the book goes from normal prose into a verbatim quote. In a book you can see this by formatting. In the audiobook you can hear this by the vocal change in the way something has been said.

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2 people found this helpful

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

A moving testament

Before listening to this book, I knew nothing about Oppenheimer. I now feel he is an old friend.

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2 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

Second time listening/reading - phenomenal

Biographies are difficult to execute well, but the authors had done a phenomenal job at it. Though the contents are dense and long, the writing brings life to the facts and history. One of the best biographies I have had to pleasure of listening/reading

The narrator of this audiobook is also excellent, and I personally would highly recommend the audiobook for anyone contemplating purchasing it

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2 people found this helpful