Try free for 30 days

A 30-day trial plus your first audiobook free.
1 credit/month after trial—to buy any title you like, yours to keep.
Listen all you want to a selection of thousands of Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
Zero db: And Other Stories cover art

Zero db: And Other Stories

By: Madison Smartt Bell
Narrated by: Brandon Massey
Free with 30-day trial

$16.45/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $23.99

Buy Now for $23.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Editorial reviews

Brandon Massey’s rendition of these compelling short stories has an air of gravitas that highlights the tremendous power of award-winning American writer Madison Smartt Bell’s masterful prose. His understated approach to each performance highlights the clarity of the writing and allows each story to unfurl at the perfect pace. Whether the setting is the Deep South, the Northeast, or the Great Plains during the 19th century, Bell paints a bleak portrait of society, pulling no punches when it comes to exposing the desperation and darkness that permeates daily life.

Publisher's Summary

Madison Smartt Bell’s celebrated debut story collection about the daily struggles of life in America.

The characters in this captivating collection of stories are linked by imprisonment in desperate circumstances and the currents of history that carry them along. Praised for its clarity of voice and vision, Zero db and Other Stories begins with a grim tour of the Deep South that includes a visit to a Tennessee slaughter yard, an unflinching look at the underbelly of the Northeast, and even a trip back in time to the Great Plains of the 19th century and the confluence of events leading up to the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Engrossing and brimming with insight, Bell’s early stories are remarkable for their ambition of scope and the author’s deft rendering of human diversity.

©1987 Madison Smartt Bell (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Zero db: And Other Stories

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.