Length24m
About this audiobook
A Modest Proposal is a Juvenalian satirical essay written and published anonymously by Jonathan Swift. Swift suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies. This satirical hyperbole mocked heartless attitudes towards the poor, as well as British policy toward the Irish in general. In English writing, the phrase "a modest proposal" is now conventionally an allusion to this style of straight-faced satire. Swift goes to great lengths to support his argument, including a list of possible preparation styles for the children, and calculations showing the financial benefits of his suggestion. He uses methods of argument throughout his essay which lampoon the then-influential William Petty and the social engineering popular among followers of Francis Bacon. These lampoons include appealing to the authority of "a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London" and "the famous Psalmanazar, a native of the island Formosa" (who had already confessed to not being from Formosa in 1706). This essay is widely held to be one of the greatest examples of sustained irony in the history of the English language. Much of its shock value derives from the fact that the first portion of the essay describes the plight of starving beggars in Ireland, so that the reader is unprepared for the surprise of Swift's solution when he states, "A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragout."
Audiobook details
GenreHumor, Fantasy
Length24 mins
Narrated byJohn Gonzalez
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateNov 22, 2021
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Opening Credits
2Chapter 1
3Closing Credits
Les voyages de Gulliver (Annoté)Jonathan Swift12h 36m$2 · $0.00
Tagebuch für Stella: 65 Briefe an Esther Johnson (Kommentiert)Jonathan Swift23h 39m$1 · $0.00
A Modest Proposal + The Benefits of Farting Explained (Annotated)Jonathan Swift1h 58m$2 · $0.00
Los viajes de GulliverJonathan Swift11h 24m$16
Les Voyages de Gulliver (Annoté)Jonathan Swift10h 32m$2 · $0.00
Gullivers Reisen (Reise nach Lilliput + Reise nach Brobdingnag + Reise nach Laputa + Reise in das Land der Hauyhnhnms) (Kommentiert)Jonathan Swift15h 49m$2 · $0.00
The Benefits of Farting Explained + A Modest Proposal (Annotated)Jonathan Swift1h 57m$2 · $0.00
Viaggj del Capitano Lemuel Gulliver in Diversi Paesi LontaniJonathan Swift11h 24m$2 · $0.00
Hints to ServantsJonathan Swift, John Jones1h 30m$2 · $0.00
Viaggi di Gulliver nelle lontane regioniJonathan Swift12h 12m$2 · $0.00
Des Herrn Dr. Jonathan Swifts Unterricht für alle Arten unerfahrner BedientenJonathan Swift3h$1 · $0.00
Three Prayers and SermonsJonathan Swift1h 2m$1 · $0.00
The Benefits of Farting Explained & A Modest ProposalJonathan Swift1h 41m$1 · $0.00
Les voyages de GulliverJonathan Swift12h 22m$1 · $0.00
Gulliverin matkat kaukaisilla maillaJonathan Swift4h 12m$2 · $0.00
Gesammelte WerkeJonathan Swift60h 31m$2 · $0.00
Los viajes de GulliverJonathan Swift10h 41m$2 · $0.00
Gulliver's Travels (Summarized Edition)Jonathan Swift3h 53m$2
Ausgewählte Werke von Jonathan SwiftJonathan Swift58h 33m$2 · $0.00
Gesammelte Werke: Gulliver's Reisen + Irland + Tagebuch für Stella + Die Bücherschlacht + Ein Märchen von einer Tonne + Unterricht für alle Arten unerfahrner Bedienten (Kommentiert)Jonathan Swift60h 20m$1 · $0.00
The Life of DaiDai Henwood, Jaquie Brown8h 2m$26 · $0.00
Poems of ParentingLoryn Brantz42m4.0 (1)$9 · $0.00
What If? 10th Anniversary EditionRandall Munroe7h 29m$23
Welcome to PawneeJim O'Heir6h 24m$24 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett13h 36m$33 · $0.00
Woman UninterruptedBrodie Kane7h 1m$24 · $0.00
1984 & Animal Farm (Annotated)George Orwell15h 54m$1.99 · $0.00
Kingsblood Royal (Annotated)Sinclair Lewis14h 42m$2 · $0.00
Hot Cowgirl Sh*tLacie Evans2h 15m$15
This Is Going to HurtAdam Kay5h 47m$24 · $0.00
MAKE WAY FOR LUCIA - Complete Mapp and Lucia Series (6 Novels & 2 Short Stories)E. F. Benson60h 25m$1 · $0.00
You Will Get Through This NightDaniel Howell6h 56m$24 · $0.00
Northanger Abbey (Annotated)Jane Austen10h 7m$2 · $0.00
My Dear HamiltonStephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie23h 7m$46 · $0.00
THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS & SCREWTAPE PROPOSES A TOAST (Annotated)C. S. Lewis5h 6m$2 · $0.00
The Night Before Christmas at Dunder MifflinBrian Baumgartner, Ben Silverman6m$4 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of G. K. Chesterton (Annotated)G. K. Chesterton58h 29m$3 · $0.00
The Complete Works of SakiSaki, H. H. Munro52h 37m$2 · $0.00
Jungle UpNick Pirog10h 8m$20
The 13½ Lives of Captain BluebearWalter Moers16h 10m$28
Rumo & His Miraculous AdventuresWalter Moers24h 6m$35
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m5.0 (1)$46 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m$33 · $0.00
Hell to PayMichael Anderle7h 50m$20
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisHonoree Fanonne Jeffers29h 49m$8 · $0.00
Conan the Barbarian - The Complete SeriesRobert E. Howard42h 26m$2 · $0.00
The Assassins of ThasalonLois McMaster Bujold9h 59m$20
Lola in the MirrorTrent Dalton13h 40m$33 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett13h 36m$33 · $0.00
The Leo Tolstoy CollectionLeo Tolstoy9h 1m$12 · $0.00
Sword and ShadowMichelle Sagara16h 51m$40 · $0.00
The Skull of the WorldKate Forsyth10h 28m5.0 (1)$20
The Story of a New NameElena Ferrante19h 3m$25
Scars of RebellionAnthony J. Melchiorri12h 56m$25
A Tree Grows in BrooklynBetty Smith14h 55m$33 · $0.00
Dark GuardianChristine Feehan12h 32m$33 · $0.00
The Neil Gaiman ReaderNeil Gaiman27h 3m$53 · $0.00
Reign Of AngelsBen Reeder8h 54m5.0 (1)$20
The HobbitJ. R. R. Tolkien10h 51m$12 · $0.00
Bad HabitAlana S. Portero5h 37m$24 · $0.00
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