The Great Believers
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
The Great Believers
Buy Now for $32.05
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Michael Crouch
-
Written by:
-
Rebecca Makkai
About this listen
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
A New York Times TOP 10 BOOK OF 2018
LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE WINNER
ALA CARNEGIE MEDAL WINNER
THE STONEWALL BOOK AWARD WINNER
Soon to Be a Major Television Event, optioned by Amy Poehler
“A page turner.... An absorbing and emotionally riveting story about what it’s like to live during times of crisis.” (The New York Times Book Review)
A dazzling new novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris, by the acclaimed author Rebecca Makkai.
In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico's funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico's little sister.
Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chicago crisis, she finds herself finally grappling with the devastating ways AIDS affected her life and her relationship with her daughter. The two intertwining stories take us through the heartbreak of the eighties and the chaos of the modern world, as both Yale and Fiona struggle to find goodness in the midst of disaster.
Named a Best Book of 2018 by The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, NPR, San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe, Entertainment Weekly, Buzzfeed, The Seattle Times, Bustle, Newsday, AM New York, BookPage, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Lit Hub, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, New York Public Library, and Chicago Public Library.
©2018 Rebecca Makkai (P)2018 Penguin AudioYou may also enjoy...
-
I Have Some Questions for You
- A Novel
- Written by: Rebecca Makkai
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, JD Jackson
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 35
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 30
A successful film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane is content to forget her past—the family tragedy that marred her adolescence, her four largely miserable years at a New Hampshire boarding school, and the murder of her former roommate, Thalia Keith, in the spring of their senior year. Though the circumstances surrounding Thalia’s death and the conviction of the school’s athletic trainer, Omar Evans, are hotly debated online, Bodie prefers—needs—to let sleeping dogs lie.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This book has it all
- By RichelleEm on 2023-03-22
Written by: Rebecca Makkai
-
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
- A Novel
- Written by: Gabrielle Zevin
- Narrated by: Jennifer Kim, Julian Cihi
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 564
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 470
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 470
Sam and Sadie—two college friends, often in love, but never lovers—become creative partners in a dazzling and intricately imagined world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality. It is a love story, but not one you have heard before.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Love the characters and gaming elements!
- By Katy on 2022-12-04
Written by: Gabrielle Zevin
-
Hello Beautiful
- A Novel
- Written by: Ann Napolitano
- Narrated by: Maura Tierney
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 237
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 208
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 207
William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him—so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family’s dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I wept!
- By Sydney Gilchrist on 2023-05-09
Written by: Ann Napolitano
-
Demon Copperhead
- A Novel
- Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 21 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 649
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 587
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 584
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant narration of beautifully written story
- By Kareem on 2023-05-28
Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
-
Tom Lake
- A Novel
- Written by: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Meryl Streep
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 440
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 398
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 397
In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully read, but a slow story to unravel.
- By Denise on 2023-08-29
Written by: Ann Patchett
-
Trust (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
- Written by: Hernan Diaz
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Jonathan Davis, Mozhan Marnò, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
Even through the roar and effervescence of the 1920s, everyone in New York has heard of Benjamin and Helen Rask. He is a legendary Wall Street tycoon; she is the daughter of eccentric aristocrats. Together, they have risen to the very top of a world of seemingly endless wealth—all as a decade of excess and speculation draws to an end. But at what cost have they acquired their immense fortune? This is the mystery at the center of Bonds, a successful 1937 novel that all of New York seems to have read. Yet there are other versions of this tale of privilege and deceit.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Pretentious
- By Anonymous User on 2024-11-17
Written by: Hernan Diaz
-
I Have Some Questions for You
- A Novel
- Written by: Rebecca Makkai
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, JD Jackson
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 35
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 30
A successful film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane is content to forget her past—the family tragedy that marred her adolescence, her four largely miserable years at a New Hampshire boarding school, and the murder of her former roommate, Thalia Keith, in the spring of their senior year. Though the circumstances surrounding Thalia’s death and the conviction of the school’s athletic trainer, Omar Evans, are hotly debated online, Bodie prefers—needs—to let sleeping dogs lie.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This book has it all
- By RichelleEm on 2023-03-22
Written by: Rebecca Makkai
-
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
- A Novel
- Written by: Gabrielle Zevin
- Narrated by: Jennifer Kim, Julian Cihi
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 564
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 470
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 470
Sam and Sadie—two college friends, often in love, but never lovers—become creative partners in a dazzling and intricately imagined world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality. It is a love story, but not one you have heard before.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Love the characters and gaming elements!
- By Katy on 2022-12-04
Written by: Gabrielle Zevin
-
Hello Beautiful
- A Novel
- Written by: Ann Napolitano
- Narrated by: Maura Tierney
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 237
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 208
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 207
William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him—so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family’s dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I wept!
- By Sydney Gilchrist on 2023-05-09
Written by: Ann Napolitano
-
Demon Copperhead
- A Novel
- Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 21 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 649
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 587
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 584
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant narration of beautifully written story
- By Kareem on 2023-05-28
Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
-
Tom Lake
- A Novel
- Written by: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Meryl Streep
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 440
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 398
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 397
In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully read, but a slow story to unravel.
- By Denise on 2023-08-29
Written by: Ann Patchett
-
Trust (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
- Written by: Hernan Diaz
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Jonathan Davis, Mozhan Marnò, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
Even through the roar and effervescence of the 1920s, everyone in New York has heard of Benjamin and Helen Rask. He is a legendary Wall Street tycoon; she is the daughter of eccentric aristocrats. Together, they have risen to the very top of a world of seemingly endless wealth—all as a decade of excess and speculation draws to an end. But at what cost have they acquired their immense fortune? This is the mystery at the center of Bonds, a successful 1937 novel that all of New York seems to have read. Yet there are other versions of this tale of privilege and deceit.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Pretentious
- By Anonymous User on 2024-11-17
Written by: Hernan Diaz
What the critics say
“Makkai knits themes of loss, betrayal, friendship and survival into a powerful story of people struggling to keep their humanity in dire circumstances.” (People Magazine)
“Cultural revolutions of the past painfully reverberate in Rebecca Makkai’s deft third novel, The Great Believers, which captures both the devastation of the AIDS crisis in 1980s Chicago and the emotional aftershocks of those losses.” (Vogue)
What listeners say about The Great Believers
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marge Simpson
- 2023-08-13
Heartbreaking and beautiful
Wonderfully read. Best book I’ve read/listened to all year. Will have to revisit, very moving.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jackie
- 2020-05-21
devastating and gorgeous
i cried four times while listening to this. brilliantly and painstakingly immortalizes a story of grief and loss and life and love. truly left me speechless. this book is so, so important. makkai is an incredible author! so worth it!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Julio Cesar Panama
- 2023-07-20
Great albeit sad book
Touching story, great performance, loved this book and it’s story. Yale (sorry for misspelling) was one of those characters that gets under your skin in a good way, making you miss him when you’re finished reading.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alysha
- 2020-04-30
A haunting story
I found it to be a haunting story of a time I know of but was too young to experience. Listening to the latter half during COVID-19 was surreal.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2023-10-10
Poignant, Nostalgic, Timeless
Written with such skill and sensitivity. Makkai deftly threads her way through 20th Century history to create a through line from the world wars to the AIDs crisis.
The characters transcend tropes to tell stories of those who survive under unimaginable circumstances.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2019-12-19
The most beautiful book I’ve read to date
This is a story about life—how, still, after terror and trauma, love prevails. Like a tree-leaf in autumn refusing to fall.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Vizslalover
- 2020-09-23
Broke my heart
I was there. I lived in Chicago with my brother and our friends through this crisis, one friend after another getting sick and then leaving us, until there was one. The author takes you right there...then back to the present in a beautiful and seamless weaving of a story that needed to be told. Thank you Rebecca. Xo. Fiona.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!