Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • All the Lonely People

  • Conversations on Loneliness
  • By: Sam Carr
  • Narrated by: Sam Carr
  • Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (1 rating)

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
All the Lonely People cover art

All the Lonely People

By: Sam Carr
Narrated by: Sam Carr
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Read by the author, Dr Sam Carr.

'Empathetic, enlightening, deeply human' - Michael Harris, author of Solitude

An intimate portrait of loneliness, All the Lonely People sees psychologist Dr Sam Carr collect hours of conversations with people young and old, including single parents, carers, teenagers and the bereaved – all shared over countless cups of tea.

In stories of love and loss, of trauma and hope, told from care homes, living rooms, classrooms and kitchens, Carr discovers that while each of their stories is utterly unique, they are all born out of the same desire for human connection.

As Carr interweaves these touching and powerful tales with his own personal narrative, he opens a window onto the inner lives of regular people – the forgotten, misplaced or misjudged – who all feel isolated in some way.

Sparking a profound conversation about a universal emotion, which may simply be an inevitable part of life in an increasingly disjointed world, he questions what we can do to build stronger human relationships, and to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.

©2024 Sam Carr (P)2024 Macmillan Publishers International Limited

What listeners say about All the Lonely People

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

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

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Moving and important stories

A small collection of human stories - varied, touching, and often recognisable - which all have loneliness at their core.

Around half of these human mini-dramas come from the author's academic research in the field (on studies like 'The Loneliness Project'), where he sat down with people, often old or migrant, and helped them tell their version of loneliness. I imagine it was therapeutic for them, and it certainly makes for thoughtful reading.

The other half of this book takes the form of a memoir, as Carr bares all about various difficult points in his life, which in retrospect he now realises were either moments of loneliness for him, or else must have been so for certain loved ones (his father, ex-partner, colleagues, and even son). Because of this, I found it valuable that the audiobook was narrated by the author, since it added a layer of personal vulnerability and honesty, as well as the feeling that one is listening to an expert on the subject.

As the stories are woven together, a small glimpse appears of just how different loneliness can be for different people, and how it's not just the typical cinematic loneliness that we know so well.

I wished there were more of these stories, and I found myself wanting more when the book ended. Not in some 'misery-porn' sort of way, but because I hope that stories like these will help me be a more empathic person, and help me spot loneliness (even in myself), when it becomes a problem.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!