Gadsby: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Gadsby, credited to Ernest Vincent Wright, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Gadsby by Ernest Vincent Wright. Read in English by LibriVox Volunteers. Fifty-year-old John Gadsby is alarmed by the decline of his hometown, Branton Hills, and rallies the city's young people to form an "Organization of Youth" to build civic spirit and improve living standards. Gadsby and his youthful army, despite some opposition, transform Branton Hills from a stagnant municipality into a bustling, thriving city. Toward the end of the book the members of Gadsby's organization receive diplomas in honor of their work. Gadsby becomes mayor and helps increase Branton Hills' population from 2,000 to 60,000. The story begins around 1906 and continues through World War I, Prohibition, and President Warren G. Harding's administration. "Gadsby" is a lipogram - a whole novel of some 50.000 words without a single instance of the letter E. When it first appeared in 1939 it was hardly noticed by the general public, but a modern reviewer called it "probably the most ambitious work ever attempted in this genre". Hardcopies of the book are extremely rare and sell for thousands of dollars. (Summary by Ava)

Recording facts

• Recording title: Gadsby
• Author credits: Ernest Vincent Wright
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 44
• Listed recording duration: 6:10:49

Catalogue topics

• youth
• lipogram
• movement

Opening tracks: first 24 of 44

1. 00 - Introduction — 7:21
2. 01 - I — 30:16
3. 02 - II — 14:00
4. 03 - III — 14:38
5. 04 - IV — 9:46
6. 05 - V — 12:31
7. 06 - VI — 9:20
8. 07 - VII — 14:16
9. 08 - VIII — 7:03
10. 09 - IX — 7:56
11. 10 - X — 4:51
12. 11 - XI — 10:43
13. 12 - XII — 6:27
14. 13 - XIII — 15:11
15. 14 - XIV — 9:35
16. 15 - XV — 10:28
17. 16 - XVI — 7:16
18. 17 - XVII — 9:22
19. 18 - XVIII — 15:11
20. 19 - XIX — 8:54
21. 20 - XX — 7:13
22. 21 - XXI — 5:03
23. 22 - XXII — 5:02
24. 23 - XXIII — 5:17

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.