Showing results by narrator "Mike Vendetti" in All Categories

The Edge of the Knife, by H Beam Piper is one of the pivotal not felt was by Piper in his "Terra-Human Future History". Piper wrote this novella in 1957 at the height of the Cold War between the Soviet Union, and the United States of America, and seeing into the future could get you locked up in the sanitarium for dissolution all thinking. The protagonist, Charmers, a modern history professor has just such a problem.

This clever and thought-provoking short story by Isaac Asimov, one of the masters of science fiction, suggests that a higher power can step in and steer us from our reckless ways. After all, we may be inhabitants of a universal barnyard overseen by a master farmer.

"Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale that appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 and as Benjamin Tabart's moralized "The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk" in 1807. Henry Cole, publishing under pen name Felix Summerly, popularized the tale in The Home Treasury (1845), and Joseph Jacobs rewrote it in English Fairy Tales (1890). Jacobs' version is most commonly reprinted today, and is believed to be closer to the oral versions than Tabart's because it lacks the moralizing.

The story takes place on Mars, where a lone narrator lives in a well, waiting patiently for unsuspecting Earth explorers to arrive on Mars, only to fall victim to his terrifying presence. Ray Bradbury's masterful storytelling and vivid descriptions bring the eerie atmosphere of the Martian landscape to life. The story explores themes of isolation, loneliness, and the consequences of human curiosity. Bradbury's ability to create a sense of unease and apprehension keeps readers engaged from start to finish.

"The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane is a profound short story that captures the struggle for survival experienced by four shipwrecked men adrift in a small dinghy after their steamer, the Commodore, sinks. The narrative is based on Crane's real-life experience of being stranded at sea, and it explores themes of nature's indifference, the bond between humans in the face of adversity, and existential reflections.

Return with us to those thrilling days of yesteryear as Mike Vendetti narrates this early Zane Grey novel of hardy pioneers taming the wild west. Yes, despite the difficult times, romance flourishes and the bad guys are eliminated almost single-handedly as our heroes Jonathan Zane and his sidekick Lew “Deathwind” Wetzel fight their way through mud, blood, gore, savage Indians, and despicable outlaws, to make the land safe for pioneer families as they settle the wild west.

Returning from the horrors of World War I, James Hall and Charles Nordhoff follow a dream to tour the South Pacific. They later co-authored "Mutiny on the Bounty". This is a love story. A travelogue and an adventure rolled into one.

The scene is a rundown boardwalk with carnival attractions. Ralph Banghart manages a house of mirrors where the "Dwarf", Mr. Bigelow, comes to view himself as large, normal. Ralph Banghart is a bully, and when his friend, Aimee, takes pity on Mr. Bigelow, Ralph becomes jealous. Although his bullying had been behind Mr. Bigelow's back, Ralph decides to switch the mirror in the house of mirrors to one that makes Bigelow appear tiny instead of large.

The Practice of the Presence of God is a book of collected teachings of Brother Lawrence, a 17th-century Carmelite friar, compiled by Father Joseph de Beaufort. The compilation includes letters, as well as records of his conversations kept by Brother Lawrence's interlocutors.

A fanciful tale by Andre Norton of a woman, her cat, and a down on his luck space traveler. Many had tried to rescue the treasure aboard a derelict floating in space, but few returned, and those that did weren't about to talk about it. Bat the cat can see things that humans can't, and he sees the unseen aboard the mystery ship. Travel along as Mike Vendetti takes us into the past, the 1950s, and visit their view of the future.

E. M. Forster provides a view of the future from 1909. He comes alarmingly close. Humanity has lost the ability to live above ground, but they communicate magnificently through the Machine. As a matter of fact the Machine handles just about everything, taking the freedom of choice, or the need to choose away from humankind. But when the machine breaks, can humanity survive?

In short, Elmer is a drunken, womanizing hypocrite who becomes a Baptist minister, a position from which he is soon ejected. He then links up with star revivalist Sharon Falconer, who is heavily based on Aimee Semple McPherson. Throughout his career, Gantry moves through many settings and scenarios illustrating aspects of the American religion. With religion as entertainment and show business, both Elmer and Sharon are consummate performers. They are always on.

'Intelligence' and 'learning' are commonly misunderstood and underutilized. The value and function of 'intelligence' is mainly dependent on our ability to 'learn'. How well we learn is about intelligently absorbing and processing information. Here Ziad Makhzoumi presents a mindset for both organizations and individuals to adapt to a new business environment of perpetual systemic chaos to gain a competitive edge.

This is a very erotic tale narrated in a sexy baritone certain to titillate the erotic desires of the listener or listeners. Told in the first person, the protagonist is a 15-year-old possessing a large penis, much virility, and a seemingly insatiable sexual appetite. He describes his sexual initiation as an adolescent - as he is "approaching 15". He catalogs his sexual experiences including incest with his sisters Eliza and Mary, sex with his governess, in addition to a very experienced and voluptuous older woman who initiates him into the rights of Venus.

Commissioners fed up - players angry at mandated educational seminar attendance! But that's what happened, and the commissioners aren't backing down. All pro athletes have to attend a course or seminar unrelated to sports every year. Dark days for the athletes until one of them sees an ad for the upcoming S.E.S. "Trash Talk" symposium. How perfect is that? None of the athletes knew, or even cared, what S.E.S. was, but trash talk was their specialty. Word of the meeting spread among the athletes like wildfire....

Calling for staunch individualism, "Self-Reliance" is an 1841 essay written by American transcendentalist philosopher and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains the most thorough statement of one of Emerson's recurrent themes: the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency and follow their own instincts and ideas. It is the source of one of Emerson's most famous quotations: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."

The War of the Worlds is a science fiction and a horror story. Published in 1898, the story is still frightening. Imagine your government not being able to protect you, or a nuclear holocaust making you suddenly, should you survive, a refugee with no home, no community services, and very little hope, as you watch the conqueror decimate your country.

Robert E. Howard writes a shuddery tale of dark horror and evil things, and the uncanny funeral rites over the corpse of old John Grimlan, now an audiobook narrated by Mike Vendetti.

Lester Herrick, human of the future, he is by our standards rather inhuman. When Lester returns from a trip to Rexor IV a changed man, the divorce is off, and Mrs. Herrick enjoys her wedded bliss until the authorities suspect Lester isn't Lester.

"Abolish Language," said the vizier, "And man will return to primal simplicity and happiness."