Orson Welles cover art

Orson Welles

The Road to Xanadu

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

Orson Welles

By: Simon Callow
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £13.78

Buy Now for £13.78

About this listen

Insightful, incisive & enlightening, the first volume of Simon Callow's comprehensive biography of Orson Welles.

Now in abridged audio, Callow's vastly entertaining chronicle of Welles's first 26 years seems even finer than it did in 1995. The author's ability to skewer his subject's evasions and lies while retaining critical affection for him is perhaps explained by the fact that Callow, an actor himself, understands the need to mythologise. Welles's innovative theatrical work in the 1930s has never been better described or analysed.

 Art & Literature Authors Cultural & Regional Entertainment & Celebrities Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV History & Criticism Celebrity Theatre Entertainment

Critic reviews

"A book of titanic achievement" (Daily Telegraph)

"Simon Callow's brilliant account of the early years is the best Welles book yet" (David Hare)
All stars
Most relevant
This is an excellent biography of the late, great Orson Welles. Simon Callow has written (and performed) a very listenable and interesting book on the Boy Genius years of Welles. My greatest criticism of it is that it’s abridged. Why we can’t have a complete version, I have no idea. We certainly need one. What is here are all the well-known stories and facts about Welles and his life and career in theatre, radio and film up to, and including, Citizen Kane. I now want to know what happened next. Does Audible have the next book? I don’t think so. Why not? Who knows. They should have. As well as the unabridged version of this first volume, which I would happily buy and listen to again (as it were).
Simon Callow is a wonderful raconteur, and one worthy of the greatest, Welles himself. He draws you in, even if you know the facts, and I was never bored as he makes them sound as though you’ve never heard them before. I could listen to him all day.
If you have any interest in Welles, or in early theatre, radio or film, this is worth listening to. Callow doesn’t make him out to be perfect, on the contrary, he happily displays Welles’s shortcomings, his bluster, his self-aggrandising claims, his fallings-out with others (particularly John Houseman), and his inability to turn his creative abilities into profit at the box office.
This is an all around excellent listen, only spoilt by its abridged nature. Come on, Audible, abridgement is not what we expect you to do!

Citizen Welles?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A concise and measured book about the enigma and phenomenon called Orson Welles. Beautifully read by Simon Callow and basefully mimicking Welles voice.

Callow brings this detailed book to life

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I am always looking for an audiobook that i can enjoy over and over whatever mood Im in and Ive found one here. Beautifully delivered by the author. This audiobook just flew by. An informative and fascinating listen. An absolute must for fans of Mr Kane and Mr Welles.

Simply Superb

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.