American Prometheus

The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

By: Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin

Narrated by: Jeff Cummings

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • The definitive biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress.

THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE OPPENHEIMER

J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress.

When he proposed international controls over atomic materials, opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, and criticized plans for a nuclear war, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup during the anti-Communist hysteria of the early 1950s. They declared that Oppenheimer could not be trusted with America’s nuclear secrets.

In this magisterial biography twenty-five years in the making, which won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for biography, the authors capture Oppenheimer’s life and times, from his early career to his central role in the Cold War.

©2005 Kai Bird; 2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"The definitive biography...Oppenheimer's life doesn't influence us. It haunts us." ( Newsweek)

"[A] profoundly fascinating, richly complex, and ineffably sad American life.... Bird and Sherwin are without peer...in capturing the humanity of the man." ( Booklist)

"A work of voluminous scholarship and lucid insight, unifying its multifaceted portrait with a keen grasp of Oppenheimer's essential nature.... It succeeds in deeply fathoming his most damaging, self-contradictory behavior." ( New York Times)

Great Story…..Poor Performance

Would you consider the audio edition of American Prometheus to be better than the print version?

American Prometheus is a great story. The performance by Jeff Cummings is good. The editing of this performance is the worst I have ever heard. The sound quality, sound volume jump so much in this audio book that it is distracting. At times it is hard to concentrate on the story line with the constant changes in sound quality.

Awful reading, but an amazing story

The narration and editing of the story was awful. Many clips were cut in to the reading causing the flow to be disjointed and distracting. It actually took me out of the story when the voice would change and have a different volume.

The story itself was absolutely amazing, in-depth and fascinating. I wish I had read this one instead of listening to it.

Interesting read

Very interesting. Only complaint is the odd volume changes throughout but I enjoyed the book nonetheless.

Excellent biography

I picked this up to read the book that the new Chris Nolan movie was based on. Thoroughly enjoyed the story of a brilliant man and leader of the los alamos project but was also surprised to learn about what happened after ww2. Very insightful about how the world works and what happens when you speak out against the powerful.

Fantastic Biography

Wonderful portrait of one of America’s most complicated people. The audio recording, however, has a few errors, and the quality occasionally changes without notice.

great piece of history

I enjoyed it very much! I would recommend this to any history buff or anyone who is interested in physics masters.

Interesting story, lots of details

What did you love best about American Prometheus?

I liked the lot of details in the most interesting parts. I did not like the lots of details in the less interesting parts.the story remained interesting even after the building of the atomic bomb. The whole post WW2 development of the nuclear bomb industry is laid clear. On one side Oppenheimer was a genius, but was very naive

Any additional comments?

Narrators voice had an 'intellectual' tone. Good match for the subject matter, but a bit dry for a loooooong story

Interesting historical account

At age 40 I knew nothing about the man - very informative and educational - good job.

Fantastic book...

Would you listen to American Prometheus again? Why?

Yes, it's a fascinating story. I'm a sucker for anything atomic bomb related, but Oppenheimer's story is particularly tragic. The guy who brought everyone together, ran the atomic bomb project gets his security clearance revoked less than a decade later in a humiliating show trial.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I would have liked to have heard more about Frank Oppenheimer.

What aspect of Jeff Cummings’s performance would you have changed?

It's not the PERFORMANCE that lacks, it's the editing. Especially names, they're edited with all the style and grace of an outgoing voicemail message. Something something something..........Victor Weisskopf.........yadda yadda yadda. The edits aren't even EQed the same.

Very Thorogh -

Indeed an editor would have helped but it is still worth the read. While the first 1/3 is far too detailed with unimportant data, the last 2/3 is detailed with interesting although not critical data.

The performance is at best a "C", but the quality of the recording is very poor; I'd say a D-. When they splice in corrections both the volume and tone change dramatically, which in some .parts is very distracting.

Overall - if you like history it is worth the read.