Audio only
Length12h 54m
About this audiobook
The “Metro” of the title of this brilliant and mordant social comedy refers to the Moscow underground—the sparkling subway system that enchants its young hero, seven-year-old Sasha, on his first visit to Moscow. The vaulted ceilings and gleaming escalators appear to his young eyes as emblems of a higher life, of beauty, harmony, and hidden strength. Years later, Sasha escapes the jaws of a provincial ammunition factory and returns to Moscow as an aspiring actor, whereupon he enters quite another “Moscow underground”—a Bohemian network of ardent individuals, of actors and artists, informers and alcoholics, con men and black marketeers, all subverting in their own way the dictates of the lunatic Soviet system. Alexander Kaletski’s wonderfully spirited account of Sasha’s struggles and defeats and triumphs in this vibrant underworld is without question the freshest and funniest and most moving account of the essential Russian spirit to reach American readers in decades.
Here is a cast of characters more vivid than any Sasha could ever meet on stage: Stas, the cynical wit and Virgil to Sasha’s Dante during his seven years in Moscow; the priapic Andrewlka, part-time KGB informant and full-time fornicator; Toilik, an alcoholic of folk-hero dimensions; and the lovely Lena, Sasha’s lover, inspiration, theatrical partner, and eventually his wife. Daringly operatic episodes of comedy and horror alternate with almost documentary insights into making do and getting by—how to find Moscow lodgings without propiska, the coveted residency certificate, how to avoid service in a military that routinely drafts the blind and the lame, how to achieve the most achingly desired status symbol of all—the right to travel abroad.
Metro is a love story, a tragedy, a black comedy, a novel of adventure and escape. Its bewitching hero, Sasha—naive, determined, romantic, resourceful, utterly in love with freedom—will touch listeners’ hearts. After finishing Metro, American listeners may well feel this: how wonderful not to live in Russia; how sad not to be Russian.
Audiobook details
GenreGeneral Fiction, Humor, Romance
Length12 hrs 54 mins
Narrated byEdoardo Ballerini
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateMar 26, 2022
LanguageEnglish
The Complete Works of Jane Austen (Unabridged)Jane Austen88h 8m5 (1)$1 · $0.00
Desperate MeasuresBrenda Jackson8h 59m$28 · $0.00
Shōgun, Part TwoJames Clavell29h 16m$40
Showdown in the Big EasyCharles Tillman, Michael Anderle, Martha Carr7h 37m$23
Searching For ThanksgivingS.E. Smith4h 24m$20
Naughty 4Brenda Hampton7h 30m$17
The Dance with Me TrilogyShelley Shepard Gray21h 44m$35
The DopemanJaQuavis Coleman5h 25m$20
Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate CollectionArthur Conan Doyle59h 49m$5 · $0.00
My Favorite Husband, Vol. 1Hollywood 360, CBS Radio5h 40m$14
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4 (4)$29 · $0.00
Grand Opening 2Carl Weber9h 16m$20
Sons of Valor II: Violence of ActionBrian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson12h 34m$23
Malevolent MagicMildred Abbott7h 13m$17
Look TwiceEva Hudson9h 48m$20
The Complete Novels of Lucy Maud MontgomeryLucy Maud Montgomery203h 59m$1 · $0.00
Bikes, Toys, and Hot BoyzGenesis Woods, Shantaé13h 9m$23
The Natchez Burning TrilogyGreg Iles96h 18m$53 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m$33 · $0.00
Ghetto BastardK’wan7h 37m$20
What If? 10th Anniversary EditionRandall Munroe7h 29m$23
Welcome to PawneeJim O'Heir6h 24m$24 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett13h 36m$33 · $0.00
Mapp & Lucia: Complete SeriesE. F. Benson59h 54m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Chronicles of Barsetshire: (The Warden + Barchester Towers + Doctor Thorne + Framley Parsonage + The Small House at Allington + The Last Chronicle of Barset)Anthony Trollope140h 13m$1 · $0.00
Woman UninterruptedBrodie Kane7h 1m$24 · $0.00
Hot Cowgirl Sh*tLacie Evans2h 15m$15
The Complete Novels of Mark Twain - 12 Books in One Volume (Illustrated Edition)Mark Twain155h 29m$2 · $0.00
You Will Get Through This NightDaniel Howell6h 56m$24 · $0.00
My Dear HamiltonStephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie23h 7m$46 · $0.00
The Night Before Christmas at Dunder MifflinBrian Baumgartner, Ben Silverman6m$4 · $0.00
Pride & PrejudiceJane Austen14h 52m$1 · $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
Damon Runyon OmnibusDamon Runyon27h$2 · $0.00
Don Quixote (illustrated & annotated)Miguel de Cervantes44h 11m$1 · $0.00
WotchaKev Saunders14h 41m$8 · $0.00
BufferingHannah Hart5h 55m$24 · $0.00
The Office BFFsJenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey8h 26m$26 · $0.00
The Dance with Me TrilogyShelley Shepard Gray21h 44m$35
The Complete Works of Jane AustenJane Austen88h 22m$2 · $0.00
An Ex to Grind in DeadwoodAnn Charles13h 19m$23
The Captivating WarriorCami Checketts, Daniel Banner4h 8m$15
Sniffing Out JusticeCarol J. Post6h 28m$12 · $0.00
Swept Into LoveMelissa Foster8h 9m$23
TimberTate James15h 36m$23
The ReunionJana Deleon6h 31m$26 · $0.00
Long LostLexi Blake13h 12m$23
The Vineyard BrideKatie Winters5h 5m$15
Protecting The PackJulie Miller5h 43m$24 · $0.00
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m$29 · $0.00
Wishes from the HeartSophie Mays4h 9m$15 · $0.00
Blizzard ShowdownShirlee McCoy5h 16m5 (1)$12 · $0.00
The Heart of CourageLynne Basham Tagawa10h 57m$20
Love Inspired Suspense October 2025 - Box Set 2 of 2Laura Scott, Carrie Stuart Parks, Jennifer Pierce17h 34m$35 · $0.00
Talia Hibbert's Brown Sisters Book SetTalia Hibbert31h 7m$53 · $0.00
To Hold and ProtectSandra Owens7h 59m$8 · $0.00
The Newly Witch GameRobyn Peterman4h 39m$15
Arctic WitnessHeather Woodhaven5h 46m$12 · $0.00
You may also like
The Last ExilesAnn Shin9h 59m$29 · $0.00
City of JasmineOlga Grjasnowa6h 32m$20 · $0.00
The State Must ProvideAdam Harris7h 15m$24 · $0.00
High-RisersBen Austen13h 33m$33 · $0.00
Coming Out of the IceVictor Herman13h 49m$25
Mother Ocean Father NationNishant Batsha11h$29 · $0.00
Prison Days: Screw'd UpSimon King5h 4m$20
Dickens for ChildrenCharles Dickens217h 59m$1 · $0.00
The Speeches & Autobiographical Writings of Frederick DouglassFrederick Douglass51h 45m$2 · $0.00
First, They Erased Our NameHabiburahman7h 1m$17 · $0.00
Taking the Underground Railroad to FreedomWilliam Still, Laura S. Haviland, Sarah Bradford65h 29m$1 · $0.00
Historical Sketches Of The SouthEmma Langdon Roche3h 5m$2.40
The Most Dazzling Girl in BerlinKip Wilson4h 24m$20 · $0.00
We Crossed a Bridge and It TrembledWendy Pearlman6h$24 · $0.00
The Last ExilesAnn Shin9h 59m$29 · $0.00
The Evin Prison Bakers’ ClubSepideh Gholian3h 26m$20 · $0.00
Band EightTham Cheng-E10h 19m$11 · $0.00
The House Of BondageReginald Wright Kauffman13h 51m$2.40
Black BuckMateo Askaripour11h 13m$29 · $0.00
Angela DavisAngela Davis19h 29m$30