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Nomadland
- Surviving America in the 21st Century
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Politics & Social Sciences, Social Sciences
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Summary
A major motion picture starring Frances McDormand.
Winner of three Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director (Chloé Zhao) and Best Actress (Frances McDormand)
Oscar nominations for Best Film Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography
Golden Globes Winner for Best Film and Best Director
BAFTA Winner for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Cinematography
From the beetroot fields of North Dakota to the campgrounds of California to Amazon's CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labour pool, made up largely of transient older adults. These invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in RVs and modified vans, forming a growing community of nomads.
Nomadland tells a revelatory tale of the dark underbelly of the American economy - one which foreshadows the precarious future that may await many more of us. At the same time, it celebrates the exceptional resilience and creativity of people who have given up ordinary rootedness to survive, but have not given up hope.
Critic reviews
"Sublimely written." (Sunday Times)
"Scorching, beautifully written, vivid, disturbing (and occasionally wryly funny)." (Rebecca Solnit)
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What listeners say about Nomadland
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Cerim
- 09-04-21
unexpectedly enjoyable
I chose this thinking it was a novel and was slightly irritated that two chapters in it was still talking statistics. Once I realised that it was nonfiction I ceased to be irritated and started to really enjoy it. I found the subject fascinating and would highly recommend this book. who knew that a large swave of mostly past retirement age people were opting to live like this rather than be homeless. I had no idea that Amazon employed these people an it had never occurred to me that a 70 year old would be stacking shelves and working so damn hard. you gave to admire their determination and resilience. it will also make you save harder so you have a decent pension!
11 people found this helpful
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- z1000jeff
- 21-04-21
Oh dear ... that was a chore
Well, that was a schoolboy error ... listening to half of a ten hour book, waiting for something to happen or for it to start to grab the attention. Then once half way through feeling obliged to listen to the rest in a pointless effort not to admit defeat. Near the end the author says that any work of non fiction continues to unfold into the future and you've just got to decide when to step away. I couldn't agree more and wish that I had done just that a sight earlier. To be fair I, like others, bought this book on the mistaken assumption it was a novel. It's not ... it's a documentary but unfortunately not one on a subject that I particularly cared about. It slips in and out of the lives of people that I just couldn't get invested in. To me, their lives, their work and their trials and tribulations were just not particularly fascinating, thought provoking or motivating. If you're interested in people working in Amazon warehouses or picking sugar beets while nursing injuries and worrying about how waterproof their vans are, then great, you may well enjoy it ... not for me though, sorry.
3 people found this helpful
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- Hollyberry
- 28-04-21
Most boring book ever. Dreadful reader.
At times I wondered if this was an automated voice as the reader seems to read several words at a time as if she has no idea of their meaning.
An incredibly boring book, I can only assume the film is a lot more interesting as it has won many awards.
Had to return this, too awful to listen to.
2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 15-04-21
Fascinating but a bit dry
The content is great but I found the style of the writing and the narration quite dull
2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 06-04-21
Hopefully the movie is better!
Can’t finish this, monotone narrator, depressing story. I was waiting for story to begin☹️ I hope the movie is better, Frances McDormand is a terrific Actor
2 people found this helpful
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- Jenny Cutler
- 12-05-21
I never knew women could endure such hardship.
I knew a lot about how Amazon treat their workforce and this book made it all so real and jaw-droppingly shocking. I had no idea how many Americans were living way below the poverty line - worst of all Graduates. It's impossible to believe how hard it is to get a job and how destitute so many people are.
1 person found this helpful
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- Jane
- 07-04-21
Great book but tragic insight
Mixture of tears and smiles throughout. Def worth a listen. Won't be getting a mobile home anytime soon. Rethinking my go to online shop too!
1 person found this helpful
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- Evil-lyn
- 09-10-21
narration sounds like text to speech
narration sounds like text to speech, which makes it very hard to follow .
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- Hoops
- 27-09-21
Chilling and disturbing.
The book is based on the author's observations and experiences of dispossessed, underclass Americans as they struggle to survive. It's a revealing insight into the rapacious consequences of the exploitation of the army of the poor as they roam around chasing under-paid, insecure and health damaging employment. It also illustrates how the super-wealthy are sucking up ever more riches.
Okay it's America but there's a lot of social pathology that could oh so easily be imported to the UK (on top of all the other aspects we already have - like zero hours contracts, stripping away workers rights, underfunding social and health care). Well narrated.
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- Trina
- 24-09-21
Worth persevering with...
I struggled with the terribly stilted narration. Great immersive journalism. Gone off Amazon now tho
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- christal
- 02-05-21
Excellent story destroyed by robot narrator
At first, I thought the file was corrupted because of the computer generated voice of the narration. I deleted it and re downloaded, that is how bad it is.
Now after re-downloading, I am almost certain that this file has been run through some sort of modulation software, and it makes the narration sound like terrible computer generated Siri GPS directions.
I have checked the hyperlinks to the narrator Karen Whatever Her Name Is, and her voice does not sound like this at all on any of the samples of.the other titles she's read. Infact, no human being has a natural voice like this. it absolutely must be an intentional modulation by the sound engineers.
If you're wondering how bad the audio is, you won't get the full grasp of it until after you purchase and then try to grind your teeth through the grating intonations (lack thereof".
Infact, it is almost worth buying the book just to be able to leave this review so the sound engineers can be sent some feedback.
Re-record the book, audible. this is an unsellable product.
2 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 19-04-21
Very well put together
I really loved this book. Compared to the decidedly pointless and non-informative movie it was a gem of personal storytelling and a glimpse into, an otherwise invisible, social strata.
The narration however was really mediocre. At points so flat that it was hard to follow.
1 person found this helpful
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- Brian W
- 19-07-21
Absolutely awful
this is why journalists shouldn't write books. their biased view on life is appalling and this one is top missing intelligence also a bigot. on top of very poor journalism the writing is extremely poor long passages of repeating or circling around the same line of words. And if that wasn't enough the narration was done by a horrible voice that sounded autotuned or just plain bad, maybe even faulty or low quality equipment.
I did watch the movie, which is much better and not opinionated.
I will trade this book in.
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- Pawel Sikora
- 15-06-21
Story everyone should read
Pararel world to ours, in which we live and we can afford paying rent, utilities, insurance and... a lot of other things.