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A Little Life

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A Little Life

By: Hanya Yanagihara
Narrated by: Matt Bomer
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About this listen

Matt Bomer's heart-rending narration in this new audiobook edition offers a fresh and poignant listening experience of Hanya Yanagihara's timeless modern classic. Perfect if you're an A Little Life fan or a new listener.

'I'm not exaggerating when I say this novel challenged everything I thought I knew about love and friendship. It's one of those books that stays with you forever' – Dua Lipa

The million-copy bestseller, Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life, by the author of To Paradise, is an immensely powerful and heartbreaking novel of brotherly love and the limits of human endurance.


Winner of Fiction of the Year at the British Book Awards
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize
Shortlisted for the Women's Prize
Finalist for the US National Book Award for Fiction


When four graduates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity.

Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he'll not only be unable to overcome – but that will define his life forever.

'Yanagihara takes you so deeply into the lives and minds of these characters that you struggle to leave them behind' – The Times

Read by Golden Globe winner and star of Fellow Travellers, Matt Bomer.

'Matt Bomer’s narration brings a steady and thoughtful presence to an emotionally intense novel . . . His ability to balance the novel’s dark themes with its moments of warmth ensures a compelling listening experience' – AudioFile Magazine

©2015 Hanya Yanagihara (P)2025 Penguin Random House LLC
Friendship Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Urban Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Tear-jerking Fiction

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All stars
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I think this book will forever stay in my heart. I love the people in this so much. It takes the whole book to get to know Jude, so dont give up, if you struggle in the begining, it will be worth it in the end.

Heartbreaking Lovestory

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The character development and the love that grows for each of them is incredible. I’ve not listened to anything like it before, truly heartbreaking and wonderful at the same time.

Emotional, Wonderful

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What an outstanding, moving, emotional, eye opener of a book. I'm not crying!! You are!!

Where do I start...?

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A rollercoaster of emotion taking the reader eventually to understanding the varieties of causes which devevelop a life.

Heart rending story

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Loved this book as it was a heartbreaking story that was written beautifully. I did struggle a little with the format of switching past and present and from 1st to 3rd but think that’s because I listened on audio so was harder to notice straight away

Beautiful writing, heartbreaking story

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Harrowing but sensitive and extremely well written and narrated . A huge tome and one that will stay with me- whether I want it to or not!

Wow. Shocking.

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One of the most memorable books I have read, her story telling is a true form of art which will have you moved to your core.

Unforgettable

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This book had me hooked from the start and with time I grew more and more attached to it. To make it clear, I cried A LOT but I found myself so connected to the characters and while the storyline is profoundly tragic I kept wanting to hear more. I loved the writing style, the descriptions and how it pulls you into their world and even makes you care/worry about the characters.

Bittersweet and captivating

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Where to start??? This book had me repulsed, shedding happy tears, shedding the saddest tears. It was a hard listen in places and in some I went back to listen to the happy parts again.
Obviously it is probably the longest audiobook but persevere, it is beauty in its purest form. And evil at its worst.

lifetime love

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So gripped and at times incredibly hard but impossible not to continue. The resilience and humanity shone through. Will stay with me for a long time, but this is incredibly sad and challenging in places. Not for the faint hearted.

Such an awful, wonderful , thought provoking read

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