NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Audible Studios, a production arm of Audible.com, today announced the release of actor, director and writer Sean Penn’s audio interpretation of Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff. As imagined by Pappy Pariah and voiced by Penn, this depiction of America on the verge of political upheaval is by turns comedic and absurd, and is ultimately a haunting allegory for our times. This audiobook recording, which also includes cameo performances by Frances McDormand, Ari Fliakos and Leila George, is now available for free download at audible.com/bobhoney.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161018005051/en/

Cover for Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff, written by Pappy Pariah and narrated by Sean Penn, available exclusively from Audible. (Photo: Business Wire)

Pappy Pariah is a reclusive, dazzling literary talent making his debut with this distinctive and playful tale.

"When I stumbled upon Mr. Pariah’s story, I developed an instant connection with it and knew that I wanted to share it with as many people as I could,” said two-time Academy Award-winning Penn, whose film credits include Mystic River, Milk, and Dead Man Walking. “I hope that my reading of it gives fair voice to an author whose work deserves widespread recognition.”

“On the big screen, Sean Penn has played a wide range of characters – including the heroic, quirky and scary. In the role of Bob Honey, he showcases all of these characters in one man, using only his voice,” said Audible EVP and Publisher Beth Anderson. “We’re pleased to give the growing population of Audible listeners the opportunity to hear him perform this one-of-a-kind novella.”

In addition to Penn, among the acclaimed performers who have narrated works of literature for Audible are Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lily Collins, Emma Thompson, James Franco, and Jesse Eisenberg. In 2013, Audible Studios won its first Grammy Award, for its production of Janis Ian’s memoir Society’s Child, and also won the Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year, for Colin Firth’s performance of Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair.

Audible, the world’s largest seller and producer of downloadable audiobooks and other spoken-word content, invented and commercialized the first digital audio player in 1997, and has since been at the forefront of the explosively growing audiobook download segment. Audible members downloaded an average of more than 17 books over the course of the year. More than half of new Audible members are first-time audiobook buyers.

ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.

Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading provider of premium digital spoken audio information and entertainment, offering customers a new way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible was created to unleash the emotive music in language and the habituating power and utility of verbal expression. Audible content includes more than 300,000 audio programs from leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers. Audible is also the preeminent provider of spoken-word audio products for Apple’s iTunes Store.

Praise for Pappy Pariah’s Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff, performed by Sean Penn

Available free on Audible at audible.com/BobHoney

“Not since Vonnegut have I had this feeling, but after reading this brief, almost literally up-to-the-minute fever dream of a novel I found myself haunted, almost hounded, into reading it again. Or maybe I’m just seeing Donald Trump everywhere these days. Also, I love gorgeous sentences, and this has many of those.” Bill Maher

“Bob Honey is the absurd embodiment of the high octane American entrepreneur turned global menace. Everything he does in the name of personal success is wrong minded. He is brethren to Terry Southern’s Guy Grand and William S. Burroughs’ Dr. Benway. Honey is a full-bore gladiator for profit whose eyes tell lies and he doesn’t care.” – Douglas Brinkley, author, Professor of History, Rice University

“I met Pappy Pariah on a dirt airfield outside Aleppo in 2012. He claimed he operated a fixed-wing shuttle outfit in Istanbul and that he’d taken a wrong turn. From what I’ve seen, he should not only be restricted from piloting his own aircraft, but added to several nations’ NO-FLY lists. He’s been everything he shouldn’t have been. Some say he’s the Zelig-like barstool philosopher for this f---ed up age. If so, the prognosis is dire.” – Michael Weiss, author ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror

“…I assume it’s an allegory…not sure of WHAT!” – Jon Stewart

“Stunning poetic runs, crazy and chaotic. It’s a Clockwork Orange world on Adderall. When I finished it, I immediately hugged my dog” – Art Linson, film producer, author, What Just Happened

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161018005051/en/