Train Dreams cover art

Train Dreams

A Novella

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Train Dreams

By: Denis Johnson
Narrated by: Will Patton
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £7.99

Buy Now for £7.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

A New York Times Notable Book for 2011
One of The Economist's 2011 Books of the Year
One of NPR's 10 Best Novels of 2011

From the National Book Award-winning author Denis Johnson
(Tree of Smoke) comes Train Dreams, an epic in miniature, and one of Johnson's most evocative works of fiction.

Suffused with the history and landscapes of the American West—its otherworldly flora and fauna, its rugged loggers and bridge builders—this extraordinary novella poignantly captures the disappearance of a distinctly American way of life.

It tells the story of Robert Grainer, a day laborer in the American West at the start of the twentieth century—an ordinary man in extraordinary times. Buffeted by the loss of his family, Grainer struggles to make sense of this strange new world. As his story unfolds, we witness both his shocking personal defeats and the radical changes that transform America in his lifetime.

Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature Wild West Old West

Listeners also enjoyed...

World Made by Hand cover art
Ulysses cover art
Sula cover art
The Penelopiad cover art
Alas, Babylon cover art
Sutton cover art
Dead Man's Walk cover art
The Sound and the Fury cover art
The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again cover art
The Waves cover art
The Plague of Doves cover art
The Power of One cover art
Born in Fire cover art
The Redemption of Althalus cover art
Battlefield Earth cover art
All stars
Most relevant
Great narration of a beautiful, funny and profound novella. Covering a brief moment in the history of the United States.

Beautiful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.