A Single Man
Kindle
$9.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$12.39
Paperback
$13.29
Audible Logo Enjoy this audiobook free + more
Free title with your free trial!
$0.00
  • Click above to get a preview of our newest plan - unlimited listening to select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts.
  • You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
  • $7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel online anytime.
Learn more about membership
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company
List Price: $15.02
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible’s Conditions Of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice.
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

A Single Man Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 1,521 ratings
See all formats and editions

When A Single Man was originally published, it shocked many with its frank, sympathetic, and moving portrayal of a gay man in midlife. George, the protagonist, is adjusting to life on his own after the sudden death of his partner, and determines to persist in the routines of his daily life. The course of A Single Man spans 24 hours in an ordinary day.

An Englishman and a professor living in suburban Southern California, he is an outsider in every way, and his internal reflections and interactions with others reveal a man who loves being alive despite everyday injustices and loneliness.

Wry, suddenly manic, constantly funny, surprisingly sad, this novel catches the texture of life itself.

Previous page
  1. Listening Length
    4 hours and 39 minutes
  2. Author
    Christopher Isherwood
  3. Narrator
    Simon Prebble
  4. Audible release date
    December 22, 2009
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
  7. ASIN
    B0031Q9ZUG
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
Next page

Read & Listen

Switch between reading the Kindle book & listening to the Audible audiobook with Whispersync for Voice.
Get the Audible audiobook for the reduced price of $7.49 after you buy the Kindle book.

Product details

Listening Length 4 hours and 39 minutes
Author Christopher Isherwood
Narrator Simon Prebble
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date December 22, 2009
Publisher HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0031Q9ZUG
Best Sellers Rank #179,168 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#842 in LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction (Books)
#943 in LGBTQ+ Literature & Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#6,618 in Literary Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
1,521 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Tyson
5.0 out of 5 stars Sad, Intelligent, Greatly Moving Novel
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2009
Verified Purchase
After hearing the buzz about the upcoming movie adaptation I was excited to read anything that was considered great in the gay fiction genre, and how happy I am that I did! I must admit I'd never heard of this book or its acclaimed author, which makes me sad. Irsherwood's prose is so poignant and intelligent I don't see how he isn't more well known.

A Single Man all takes place in a day, some time after George's lover has died. Isherwood describes everything very honestly, making no attempt to romanticize anything, and presents everything with blunt accuracy. Though the novel is short, there is a lot that happens during this one day with George, even if most of it is in his mind. Personally I'm very interested in how the movie is going to be done because so much of the novel is the thoughts of George, and there aren't a lot of scenes per se. Every written word is brilliant and beautiful, however. If you are in college, teach college, or have been in college you will relish the detailed descriptions as George teaches his class and goes about the campus. Like I said, this is a very intellectual novel, and if you are only interested in sweeping romance or blockbuster scenes, this isn't the book for you. It is smart, but not hard to read, though, so even if you are one of those people, I think it'd be hard not to enjoy the heartbreaking honesty. It is about love, it's about life, it's about hardship, it's about society.. I really can't justify how good it is in a review, except that I assure: you will gain something from reading this book. Whether you are gay or straight, male or female, or anyone in the world, it is powerful and you will feel moved by it.
23 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Jessica Sullivan
4.0 out of 5 stars a deeply moving novel, life-affirming in its own melancholy way
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2018
Verified Purchase
A Single Man begins with prose so painfully and exquisitely beautiful that I re-read the first couple pages a few times in a row. George, a gay middle-aged English professor in the 1960s, is grieving the loss of his lover, Jim.

He gets up. He goes to work. He visits his best friend Charlotte for dinner, and finishes out the day with a surprising encounter with one of his students. The entire slim novel takes place over the course of this one day.

Though the middle parts of this book are notably less poignant than the beginning and end, there is such profound elegance in the opening pages and final third that I feel awed by it as a whole.

Isherwood digs deep into the tender heart of existential loneliness with a character who longs for meaning and connection amid the cruel indifference of the world.

A Single Man is a deeply moving novel, life-affirming in its own melancholy way.
11 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Dalton
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful and moving work of literature
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
I read this book shortly after coming out in high school and it (along with the Tom Ford movie) stayed in my consciousness for years. I was eager to reread it now and was delighted to find it help up wonderfully. Isherwood’s prose is direct, even curt, while still offering imaginative and wholly original visuals. George is a perfect encapsulation of the rigidity felt by so many gay men for decades, centuries even, being unable to live their authentic selves while mourning internally the loss of youth, love, and a future. Emotionally raw and uncompromising, A Single Man is a beautiful and moving work of literature.
Helpful
 Report
macaeral
3.0 out of 5 stars started out good…
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book went on too long with not much happening. The main character needed a significant other and nothing much happened other than esoteric conversations with students and friends.
Helpful
 Report
Linda C.
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant work from a sterling mind.
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2021
Verified Purchase
Just finished this. So good, it only took me 2 days to read it. Different style of writing, but it's from a different age, 1964, so it reflects that cultural gap. The story of his life starts out with his "body" telling the tale, its reactions to waking, the age. Each character is so well written, I could imagine them at every line.
The ending. Well, the "body" takes over again. So sad to turn the last page.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Christine S.
4.0 out of 5 stars Poignant Read
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2012
Verified Purchase
A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood is a poignant story about loss, homosexuality, and a time period that served as a transitioning point for the country.

Positives
- I love that the novel takes place in a 24 hour period; so much happens and is addressed in just one day! Politics, education, age, sexuality...
- Isherwood was groundbreaking- credit must be given for his decision to address a topic that was for more taboo than it is today.
- Isherwood's control of language is exquisite without being over-the-top.
- The stage of grief George is at is captured so well; the point where one is trying to forget but is still definitely mourning.

Negative
- The only real aspect of this book that I thought was a bit trying was that with Charlotte; I understand the parallels and contrasts being made between she and George, but it just didn't seem to necessarily mirror the significance of the other events during his day. Personal preference, I think.

Great, quick read.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Reviewed in India on October 12, 2022
Verified Purchase
The print quality is good. As for the book itself, it's amazing. Funny and grim at the perfect times, with a great balance of the two.
One person found this helpful
 Report
KTas
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic novel later made into a great movie!
Reviewed in Spain on March 14, 2021
Verified Purchase
Classic timeless novel! I recommend watching the movie as well. So happy to have read this book.
Report
Susan M.
5.0 out of 5 stars Single Man
Reviewed in Canada on August 30, 2019
Verified Purchase
Classic book. Engaging. Love.
Read the book first then watch the movie with Colin Firth & Julianne Moore
Report
winemouse
5.0 out of 5 stars Deprimierend und erhebend zugleich
Reviewed in Germany on May 22, 2016
Verified Purchase
,,A single man" erzählt die Geschichte des homosexuellen Universitätsprofessors George Falconer.
Mittlerweile alterstechnisch im Herbst seines Lebens angelangt und etwas verloren im Kalifornien der frühen Sechziger kämpft George sich seit dem plötzlichen Tod seines Lebensgefährten durch den Alltag.
Der einzige Tag, den der Leser mit George erlebt, zeigt viele seiner Empfindungen, Gedanke, Schmerzen und Lebensumstände. Es ist schmerzhaft und zugleich unglaublich intim, mitzuerleben, wie ein Mensch alleine den Lebensabend verbringen muss, der so komfortabel mit dem Partner geplant war. ,,A single man" bringt das so intensiv und ehrlich herüber, wie man es kaum woanders erlebt. Man durchlebt mit George die Alltagssituationen, in denen er nur noch ,,stoisch" funktioniert, aber auch die, wo er ernsthafte Versuche anstellt, sich aus dem melancholischen Trott zu befreien - sei es durch Alkohol, Gespräche mit einem jungen Studenten oder das Treffen mit der besten Freundin.

Und doch fühlt man genau so wie George, wie verspottet sich ein zu tiefst betrübter Mensch fühlt, wenn sie Welt sich einfach weiterdreht, ungeachtet von dem, was man durchleben muss. Und doch nimmt man aus Georges Gedanken und Erfahrungen etwas für sich selber mit, das seltsam erbaulich ist.

,,A single man" ist eine großartige Charakterstudie, die ihresgleichen sucht.
6 people found this helpful
 Report
Silvia Rizzo
5.0 out of 5 stars Uno dei migliori romanzi del Novecento
Reviewed in Italy on April 28, 2016
Verified Purchase
E' uno dei romanzi più belli che abbia letto da molti anni a questa parte. Denso e drammatico, tocca temi di grande importanza, come l'omosessualità, la società americana degli anni '60, la malattia, la difficoltà di elaborare il lutto per la perdita di persone care, l'insegnamento e il rapporto allievo-maestro, giovane-vecchio, il vivere lontano dalla patria ecc. Scritto con tale perfezione che alcuni passi sono da antologia. Ricco di dialoghi molto vivaci co n acuta caratterizzazione dei personaggi: era stato concepito all'inizio come sceneggiatura per un film. Il film che ne ha tratto Tom Ford tradisce il romanzo aggiungendo elementi non pertinenti. Il romanzo vuole essere a mio avviso anche un omaggio all'Ulisse di Joyce: come quello si svolge tutto nell'arco di un giorno, come quello fa larga parte all'inconscio e la scena di George, il protagonista, seduto sulla tazza del gabinetto all'inizio della sua giornata è una voluta allusione al modello. L'edizione Vintage è elegante e maneggevole.
One person found this helpful
 Report