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Audiobooks for Postal Employees! |
BOOKS TO READ WHILE WORKING
June 2010 - Audiobooks reviewed by Jonathan Lowe |
 A
NATION RISING is by "Don't Know Much About History" author Kenneth
C. Davis, and has the subtitle "Untold Tales of Flawed Founders,
Fallen Heroes, and Forgotten Fighters from America's Hidden History."
Covering the era of expansion into the West from 1800 to 1850, the
book examines some of the least known yet significant people and
events leading up to the California gold rush. It's a story of slave
and Indian rebellions, forced marches, bloody clashes between
Protestants and Catholic immigrants from Ireland, and how both public
sentiment and the will of Presidents and pioneers like John C. Fremont
played into the forming of the America we now know. Narrated by the
always engaging Robertson Dean, the audiobook details a mutiny aboard
the slave ship Creole, the "Bible riots" of Philadelphia, and the
mission building which established San Francisco by unstoppable Papal
crusaders who trekked across the hellish jungles of Panama in order to
avoid the even more treacherous six month slog by wagon train. What
emerges is a history brought into slightly sharper focus than what
school textbooks gloss over. Dean's deep and mellow voice takes over
after the author reads the foreword.
Sports writer Rick Reilly has a new humor book out titled SPORTS FROM
HELL, in which he tries to find the stupidest sport in the world among
entries like Ferret Legging (in which live ferrets are put down your
pants), Chess Boxing (in which contestants try to concentrate on
making strategic board game maneuvers after being hit in the head
repeatedly), and Jart Throwing (launching now outlawed lawn darts
which might stick in your skull). Mike Chamberlain is audio guide for
this trip around the sports world. Ironically, Rick picks baseball as
the dumbest of them all, and lists dozens of hilarious reasons why,
drawing from his years as a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, as
well as anecdotes heard or experienced in the trenches (or dugouts).
It's a welcome addition to sports literature, given how fanatical
people are about their own religion (ie. favorite sport). Reilly is
former author of "Who's Your Caddy?" and Chamberlain a seasoned actor
whose turn of phrase is adeptly matched to the tone of the text.
Back in the Roaring 20s, almost a century ago, alcohol was declared
illegal by Constitutional amendment, and so, as today with drugs like
cocaine, Americans went to extraordinary lengths to obtain and abuse
it. LAST CALL by Daniel Okrent is an examination of the era, revealing
what forces cooperated in bringing about Prohibition, what it was like
living during this age of women's suffrage and anti-German sentiment,
and how politics went irrevocably askew. The rise of the Kennedys in
the liquor business is covered, while preachers and axe-wielding
federal officials battled it out with bootleggers and weekend bingers
alike. Today, of course, sports stadiums support thousands of beer
bellies, while college dives host nightly guzzling contests. Prohibit
anything, and people demand it even more. But for over a decade in our
history, the government engaged in a war on drinking, as it would
later on gambling and prostitution and drugs and even smoking. Okrent,
who also reads the book on audio with better than usual author-read
aplomb, calls the shots with accurate measure, leaving the listener
reeling with facts that a Ken Burns documentary will also soon imbibe
and regurgitate for PBS.
Next, THE MEN WHO WOULD BE KING is a fascinating biography of three of
the most powerful men in Hollywood, written by Nicole LaPorte and ably
narrated by Stephen Hoye. This is a producers story about the deals
made behind-the-scenes at every major studio by the various would-be
kings who created and broke stars and directors by their decisions.
All the in-fighting is detailed, only some of which was made public,
as Hollywood egos clashed over control of projects, and stars like
Russell Crowe balked at scripts. Katzenberg, Geffen, and Spielberg are
the main targets put under the microscope, but there are many other
colorful characters involved too, including directors Michael Bay
(Transformers) and the embattled heads of production and publicity at
Dreamworks. It's a tale of rich men, their shifting alliances
(including with Paramount and Ron Howard), and how money influences
loyalty. One comes away with realizing that power only corrupts those
who can't see beyond the dollar sign, while true artists have values
which sustain them through all their rivalries.
Finally, NOMAD by Ayaan Hirsi Ali is both a memoir and a call to
action whose intent is to aid the listener to understand the nature of
Islam, and also how Western retaliation is used by radicals to win the
hearts and minds of the many millions sitting on the fence of a
religion which spans a quarter of the Earth's population. Her bravery
in the face of death threats, as well as her own repressive and
violent history, makes this audiobook (which she also reads) a
chilling must-hear. Although what she says here will be controversial
even to many Americans, Ali contends that the Islamic mind is closed,
and that the West's advocacy for multiculturalism (including cultural
sensitivity), while well intentioned, only helps keep that mind
closed. Even mainstream Islam itself is, by nature, she says, opposed
to critical thinking while embracing without question beliefs that
subjugate women. This closed-minded cultural distinction (as well as
an acceptance of violence as a way of life) aids in radicalizing
children (who are routinely beaten) while perpetuating the universal
myth that Jews are powerful demons determined to destroy their faith
and should be killed at all cost. Ali argues that only peers can
change minds, not governments or higher authorities. It is therefore a
battle that must be fought one-on-one, since radical Islam has adopted
the strategies of the Nazis, with the added benefit of having a
religious text to justify atrocities, and it is therefore a bigger
threat to world peace than 1940s Germany unless the scientific method
can be made to overcome blind devotion to religion, radical or not.
Ali is saying, "wake up, and fight with your minds, not merely your
weapons, before it's too late" (and radical Islam begins to explode
nuclear weapons in your cities.)
(For an audio excerpt of Ayaan Hirsi Ali reading part of her new book,
visit YouTube.com/BurjReview) |
BOOKS TO READ WHILE WORKING
May 2010 - Audiobooks reviewed by Jonathan Lowe |
 OPRAH
is the title of a controversial new unauthorized biography by Kitty
Kelley, former biographer of Sinatra, Bush, and Jacqueline Kennedy.
Kelley also reads the audiobook version, which explores both the
public and private life of someone who has been called "the most
influential person on Earth." Her narration is not sensational but
conversational, only adding emotion in dialogue to illustrate intent.
Exhaustive and comprehensive, the book reveals sides of Oprah the
public knows little about, and for this background Kelley examined
court documents, financial statements, and interviewed business
associates. She also took a peek at the confidentiality agreement her
employees are forced to sign. What emerges is a 360 degree look at a
woman with immense power and down-to-Earth charm who is nonetheless
not a saint, but a flawed icon with a carefully controlled image. That
there is more information here (than her myriad fans want to hear)
points to the fact that Americans, once we have put a celebrity on a
pedestal (particularly a famous African-American role model such as
Oprah or Tiger Woods), we do not appreciate journalists rocking that
pedestal. So Kelley's book is inadvertently asking whether money,
power, and fame should insulate someone from scrutiny. The "someone"
she has chosen to write freely about is the most feared and admired
entertainer in the media, so the consequences for the author, her
publisher, and anyone who interviews her is great, while Oprah's fan
base is likely to dispute and criticize every fact as a "claim." Among
those items fans will either deny, dismiss or forgive are that Oprah's
tearful confession of drug addiction (on her show dealing with the
subject) was not spontaneous, as suggested by her PR people, but
calculated to head off threats of disclosure. She could "cry on cue"
as one associate put it, and Oprah herself bragged about being able to
manipulate her ratings with so-called "spontaneous" tears leading up
to sweeps week. (Show attendees also report that Oprah ignores them
when the camera is off, then pretends they are family when the
commercial ends. Her charitable programs and donations only happen
with cameras rolling as well.) In an era when mankind is burning
through millions of years of dwindling fossil fuels every year by
buying luxuries they cannot afford, Oprah became the queen of bling
for an adoring audience of emulating credit card users. First in awe
of (and then obsessed with) glitz and glitter, she never married
because the thought of sharing her wealth at a split was so repugnant.
She was even estranged from her own family, yet pretended to be like
every woman in her audience, wisely knowing that it is they who
finance the luxury she enjoys in private, including an estate in
California with a five mile driveway and a beach view mansion
described by one real estate professional as "the most beautiful house
I've ever seen" (close up or in pictures.) Known to hold grudges for
decades, Oprah demanded total unquestioned loyalty, played up or down
the idea of past discrimination against her as it suited the
situation, and would not even walk up a flight of stairs to a private
gallery viewing arranged for the sole convenience of her schedule,
saying, "Oprah does not do stairs." The exasperated gallery staffer
then lost it, responding, "Maybe you should." Enraged, Oprah turned to
her assistant, demanding, "Get the plane ready, we're leaving!" (Her
first private jet cost $40 million, her second $47 million, while a
tax deductible ten thousand dollar donation to a children's home got
much wider publicity.) Incidents like these are many, and varied. Yet
the book is not ultimately a biased screed on Oprah's scandals and
missteps (including an affair with John Tesh), but rather a
myth-busting history of Oprah's real life story, and what makes her
tick. This is despite the fact that there is far more image-busting
here than building. Of course the book will seem biased to fans for
that reason, but then again Oprah's own PR machine, given immense
clout with unlimited funding, has been chronicling her accomplishments
in headline news worldwide for decades, while Oprah herself promises
to fire or litigate anyone tarnishing her image. What makes the book
important is that it also shows (for the first time) how and why so
many people believe whatever Oprah tells them (a testament to the bold
business savvy that also has her appearing on the cover of every issue
of O--The Oprah Magazine), and what this says about our culture in
general. How powerful is money and fame, and the perception of
integrity? Just how enamored are we of celebrity, and star worship?
When Kelley recently appeared on Bill O'Reilly's Show to discuss the
book, Bill (who built his reputation slamming people) defended Oprah,
denying he made a phone call referenced in it. At the end of the
interview, Kelley then thanked him for inviting her on the show,
calling him "very brave."
Other new releases: Yann Martel, the author of "Life of Pi," has a new
novel out, this time featuring a donkey and a howler monkey named
BEATRICE AND VIRGIL. Their epic journey together, told in a play by a
taxidermist, raises profound questions. Actor Mark Bramhall narrates.
Another odd book is LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT by Peter Buffett. What
makes it odd is that although his father Warren left him little money,
he's now writing a self help book following the advice he was given:
to find your own path. Peter reads the audiobook, and is not an
investment banker, but a musician. If you're into historical mystery,
EYE OF THE RED TSAR will introduce you to first time novelist Sam
Eastland, as read by Paul Michael. It's set in Russia in the time of
Stalin, about a spy given a mission to locate the murderers of Romanovs. THE LAKE SHORE LIMITED is by Sue Miller, a family story
about a play set on a train that is the target of terrorists. This
contemporary love story is read by the author. Mark Deakins reads the
new Obama bio, THE BRIDGE by David Remnick, which delves into the mind
of the once confused community organizer, revealing the evolution of
his ambitions after attending Harvard. This is the first full
investigation of Obama's past, showing how he obtained the inner
strength to attempt America's top job. Carol Burnett's new biography
is out, too: THIS TIME TOGETHER. This one, though, is authorized. How
can you be sure? Carol reads it on audio herself.
(Jonathan is currently writing a new novel. His website is
TowerReview.com) |
BOOKS TO READ WHILE WORKING
April 2010 - Audiobooks reviewed by Jonathan Lowe |
 Back
in the 80s one of the top shows on television was DALLAS, which
featured a fictional J.R. Ewing, whose machinations and conspicuous
greed mesmerized viewers who (secretly or otherwise) wanted to live
just as high and wide. But J.R.'s excesses were nothing compared to
the real life exploits of the big four Texas oilmen--Roy Cullen, H.L.
Hunt, Clint Murchison, and Sid Richardson. The oil dynasties these men
created and sustained during the golden era peaking in the 1950s are
legend. Their influence overshadowed the White House, and led to
George W. Bush's election. By the late 80s, though, after oil prices
had tanked, and their other hostile takeover investments failed to
match such rapturous success, these aging men became "the merely
rich." Their stories are here excavated from under decades of sludge,
and the sparkle polished and examined in THE BIG RICH
by Bryan Burrough, who previously wrote "Barbarians at the Gate" and
"Public Enemy." James Jenner narrates the audiobook version of this
true story of sprawling ranches, gushers, and long-horned Caddys.
Which of the feuding siblings bought a big chunk of Disney just in the
nick of time, and which tried to corner the silver market only to end
in disgrace? It's all here, along with the behind-the-scenes deals and
dirt. If America ever had royal families, besides certain movie stars,
it was these good old boys. They knew it, too, and lived "high on the
hog" with Senators, Presidents, and movie moguls attending their
barbecues and charity balls. Now that their era is over, and oil is
running out, conspicuous greed has gone completely under the table
(although gangster rappers still cling to the bling, and the Chinese
are just starting to "live the dream.") Perhaps this book, read by a
future literary archeologist, will seem just as fascinating as we now
imagine Egyptian petroglyphs.
For a look at how the economy affects the little guy caught like a bug
in the wheels of the amoral corporate machine, try the short novel
LAST NIGHT AT THE LOBSTER by Stewart O'Nan. It features narrator
Jonathan Davis playing the roles of various restaurant workers who
arrive at a Red Lobster on the corner of a dying New England mall for
one last day's work. Corporate honchos are closing the place, due to
failing receipts. The manager is Manny DeLeon, whose girlfriend is
pregnant, but who is in love with one of his waitresses all the same.
He's got an assistant manager's position waiting for him at The Olive
Garden, and he's wondering if he's chosen the right employees to
follow him there. The audiobook is more than a "day in the life" study
of eccentric characters (customers and employees), but the poignant
portrait of a man who has given it all his best shot, and come up
short anyway. Ironically, the Red Lobster near this reviewer is the
busiest in town--you can't get near the place! Narrator Davis excels
at evoking the quiet pathos of the text, and my interview of him will
appear in the next issue of Audiofile.
Clive Cussler is at it again in THE SILENT SEA, co-written with Jack
Du Brul, in a plot involving a crashed satellite, an ancient Chinese
expedition, and a revived curse. Scott Brick narrates the unabridged,
and actor Jason Culp the abridged. If you're an iconic writer with
more ideas than time, living in an era when name recognition is
everything and fewer have a prayer of joining those ranks, what you do
is farm out your ideas to lesser known writers. They then are given an
audience they wouldn't normally have. Cussler isn't the only writer to
do this with multiple others (including his own son). He's just the
most persistant at it. This is not an indictment of the practice, just
be aware that the quality of the books vary somewhat, according to
which co-writer is involved. Cussler tells me these books are a true
collaboration, so all are well written, of course, but in my opinion
the best are nonetheless those few Pitt books which Cussler writes
solo, which he rarely does anymore. As for narrators, both are great,
so your choice is between the full text and the abridged. What you
miss in the abridged is the full arc of the story, and a lot of
background.
A funny political satire in the form of an audio drama, THIS TOWN is
by Sidney Blumenthal, a political analyst and former presidential
advisor. It's about the Washington press corps, whose insider
knowledge of how things work inside the beltway has turned their
cynicism into a sycophantic way of life. Here, the facts don't really
matter, it's how you spin it, or "massage the answers" as one
character puts it. Concerned only with their own careers, and how they
may be quoted, these journalists give viewers what they want to
hear--NOT news about what was said at some peace conference or
economic summit, (those meetings never resolve anything, anyway), but
rather whether the President is personally buying food for the First
Dog, and if that dog food is somehow linked to a company they can
create a scandal over. It's a sharply biting satire, not so much for
what is said, but for what is not. Between the laughs generated, those
gaps point to a dysfunctional U.S. news service, more interested in
style over substance (which, sadly, has become the American way,
leaving the "American dream" in the hands of TV spinmeisters). Cast is
Gerrit Graham, Richard Kind, Jane Lanier, David Lewman, Joe Liss,
Gates McFadden, Paul Mercier, John Randolph, John Vickery, and Alan
Wilder.
Finally, if you lost your house (or are about to), and want someone to
commiserate with, well, go see a neighbor, or listen to BUSTED--Life
Inside the Great Mortgage Meltdown. Author Edmund L. Andrews is an
economics reporter for the New York Times, yet even he wasn't spared
from almost losing everything, including his marriage. This is his
personal story, as well as the story of all the people so wiling to
lend him the $500,000 he needed to buy a dream home for his family.
Money, in fact, was flooding the market back then for practically
anyone who wanted "the American dream" (minorities least likely to
understand what they were getting into especially.) No job? No
problem. Some lending institutions would cook the books in your favor
just to get you that loan. They then sold your mortgage to someone
else, at a profit. When the bottom fell out, they next got Congress
(already in their hip pocket) to pick up their losses at taxpayer
expense, and awarded themselves huge bonuses with the bailout money.
Narrated by Dick Hill, the audiobook nails the culprits involved in
the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time, which ultimately erased twelve
trillion dollars in value from Wall Street and real estate. The lesson
here? Carry a pin with you at all times. You never know when you'll
need to say, "I hate to burst your bubble, but..." (Not to brag, but
when the New York Times and other big shot writers went along with the
bubble, this Lowly reporter was telling anyone who would listen that
the burst was coming, but who am I, right?)
(Dish or vent on the media and economy at Jonathan's new TV blog
justsaynoway.wordpress.com, where you can post comments.) |
BOOKS TO READ WHILE WORKING
March 2010 - Audiobooks reviewed by Jonathan Lowe |
 Back
in the day when white collar crime was a bit more quaint, and no one
but criminals believed in the fast buck, America had a few more
redeeming qualities. Nowadays it seems that nearly everyone--instead
of producing products of value--either wants to be bailed out at the
expense of their neighbors, or get rich quick by cheating the system.
In his first book THE QUANTS, Scott Patterson
profiles some of these Wall Street paper-pushers (ie. "whiz kids"
turned robber barons) who believed they'd created a formula to beat
the market by the use of robotic trade computers which automatically
calculated the values or potentials of securities, bought and sold
them, then deposited the commissions and fees in their own private
accounts. So certain were longtime poker players Peter Muller, Ken
Griffin, Cliff Asness, and Boaz Weinstein of their business acumen,
that they kept their own company stock holdings, along with the
requisite toys billionaires buy. So when the Great Collapse came in
the Fall of 2008, they were nearly taken out of the business, along
with the investors they'd duped. As their hedge funds bled at the
jugular, they maintained their alpha male stance by denial, and still
maintain their innocence, even as the Fed bails out the biggest
investment banks with taxpayer funds. Of course, back in the Dark
Ages, these guys would have been hung in public, their heads taken off
and displayed on posts. Today, we shake our heads and turn the
channel. The word "quant" refers to someone who analyzes statistics,
especially in the context of using the information for business
advantage. So certain were the managers of PDT, CIG, and AQR that
they'd created a perpetual motion money machine (which also defied
gravity) that they created new financial "instruments" (not a
barometer, though) which could leverage risk even higher. The result,
when gas ran out, was that God laughed, and they were without wings
(albeit a golden parachute). Patterson is staff reporter for the Wall
Street Journal, and while he doesn't go into the wider implications
for America, he does paint the targets while being informative and
entertaining. The audiobook version is narrated by actor Mike
Chamberlain.
Conceptual art inspires concepts of what keeps friendships together in
ART, a Tony award winning play by Yasmina Reza. Performed by actors
Brian Cox, Bob Balaban, and Jeff Perry, the play's drama is initiated
by the purchase of a five-by-four canvas which has nothing on it
except a few white "lines" painted on white. Because one of the
friends paid an exorbitant sum for the painting, saying it "moved"
him, another friend turns on him, attacking his sanity and questioning
the very basis for their friendship. The third friend takes a neutral
position, but is also emotionally invested in this downwardly
spiraling triangle because he's about to be married to someone he
probably shouldn't, and needs the other two to support him, which they
are increasingly no longer doing. It's a smart and volatile
performance that shimmers with interconnecting images of character in
the same way that viewers sometimes see "who they really are" in their
own Rorschach reactions to paint--or the lack of it--on canvases of
modern art. In a sense, apart from the question of what defines art
and how to put a price on it, the play is also a love triangle between
three men who need each other in their own ways, and come to see
themselves in a new light by peering into the void. Funny, too, to
hear guys emote on this level. Quirky piano stylings provide
transition while coloring the evolving moods; interviews with some of
the principals are also included in the audiobook. (L.A. Theatre
Works)
We all hope to live to be a hundred (in relative good health, that
is), although only one in a thousand actually do. But what if you
could live even longer, given scientific breakthroughs in genetics and
hormone therapy? Greg Critser has a new audiobook out, narrated by
Eric Synnestvedt, titled ETERNITY SOUP. It's about the anti-aging
industry, where he reveals what's genuine science and what's quackery.
It's a huge market, obviously, given all the baby boomers retiring in
the coming decades, only to live longer. Should we even want extra
decades, given our already strained natural resources and a collapsing
economy? Who should you listen to regarding all the vitamins and
products out there claiming to prolong your life? It's a subject that
interests me, having written a suspense novel utilizing longevity
science (Geezer). Critser suggests that because old people enjoy being
around younger people (although the reverse isn't true) city planners
should incorporate older communities into new, young ones so that
aging won't be as much of a trauma. One thing he hasn't considered is
that, unless there's means testing for Social Security, it's likely
going to be war between young and old, the former claiming there's no
money to pay wealthy retirees anymore, and the latter demanding what's
"due them." Subtitle of the audiobook is "Inside the Quest to End
Aging." The author's previous books were Fat Land and Generation Rx.
Is there a down side to positive thinking? What do Tony Robbins, Joel
Osteen, Dale Carnegie, Ken Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Norman Vincent
Peale, and Rhonda Byrne have in common? According to author Barbara
Ehrenreich in her new book BRIGHT-SIDED, they blind-sided us into the
notion that the way to wealth and success comes through mind control,
that consumption is a worthy--even Godly--goal, and that what goes up
never comes down for those who project the right thoughts and maintain
a smiley face. Sadly, the science behind this eternally optimistic
worldview is lacking, even as it is drilled into executives and church
goers alike. The fundamental fallacies are now evident in a collapsed
economy, caused by the self delusions that were virally spread via
motivational speakers and self help bestsellers like "The Secret" and
"Your Best Life Now." (Note that this reviewer panned both.) The
subtitle to the book is "How the Relentless Promotion of Positive
Thinking Has Undermined America." The title of the book could also be
"Smile or Else" or, in another sense, "Something for
Nothing--America's Obsession With Free Lunch." Jack Welch is but one
of those skewered here, (along with the TV preachers and corporate
coaches who were dispatched like the SS to indoctrinate anyone who
doesn't conform to the "law of attraction," although exposed as idiocy
by Scientific American magazine.) Welch fired anyone who
underperformed, while flying high in the corporate jet party (money
orgy) that included the overpaid CEOs of Lehman, Bear-Stearns, and
Enron. Profit being a vengeful God, always ready to punish anything
negative (in brain or balance sheet), Welsh dipped his hands deep into
the cleansing bowl of positively pure Evian water, (stained red as it
swirled away, unnoticed, down the drain.) As for Ehrenreich, she is
also author of "Nickel & Dimed," and not only exposes this smiley face
industry as culprit in our amassing unsustainable debt, including the
multi-billion dollar gambling industry, but points to realism and
sanity as our salvation. While there is something to be said for a
positive outlook on life, there is a down side, even a dark side, when
common sense is left behind. This is an important book, not to be
missed. Narrator of the audiobook version is Kate Reading, whose
perceptive performance matches the text, and who guides the listener
from one astonishingly simple (yet somehow missed) revelation after
another. (MacMillan Audio)
Finally, note that Blackstone has released some old Stephen King
titles on audio for the first time, including IT, CHRISTINE, CUJO, THE
DARK HALF, EYES OF THE DRAGON, FIRESTARTER, THE LONG WALK, THE
TOMMYKNOCKERS, ROADWORK, and THE RUNNING MAN. My interview with
narrator Jonathan Davis will appear in the next issue of AudioFile.
(Jon is best known for his narration of many Star Wars titles, several
video games, and the SF masterpieces Snow Crash and The Windup Girl.)
Plus I've posted several of my own previously published pieces for the
first time at
jonathanlowe.wordpress.com. |
BOOKS TO READ WHILE WORKING
February 2010 - Audiobooks reviewed by Jonathan Lowe |
 Death.
We all face it. What can you do about it? Well, you can get up off the
couch, put down that soda and chips, and go jogging after a meal of
veggies and vitamins. (Hopefully with an imaginative audiobook).
Still, though, you will face death eventually. (Incidentally, the
argument "why bother, then?" is the same as saying "death--the sooner
the better." Plus my mother also informs me, at age 93, that the
reason she's still around is "pickled beets," although changing her
bed pans is no longer as much fun.) What to do about death, then,
instead of obsessing over it, or fearing it? Try laughing at it.
That's just what Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein do in their new
audiobook HEIDEGGER AND A HIPPO WALK THROUGH THE
PEARLY GATES. Heidegger, as you may or may not know, is an
existentialist philosopher. The authors of this new audiobook (which
they also read) are former Harvard philosophy majors who,
respectively, either dropped out of divinity school or wrote jokes for
standup comedians. Their last book was "Plato and a Platypus Walk Into
a Bar." What better way can there be to face your fears than to laugh
at them? You can also talk about your death and philosophy in general,
which the authors also do here, with examples taken from history,
science, and religion. (Random House Audio)
It's a mystery why Michael Crichton's last novel (he died in 2008) is
not a science fiction epic, but perhaps he was just having fun. We'll
give him that. PIRATE LATITUDES is a swashbuckling tale set in Port
Royal, Jamaica in 1665, and follows Capt. Charles Hunter, a
"profiteer, not a pirate," as he and his hired cutthroats attempt to
commandeer the booty aboard a Spanish galleon moored in the bay of a
small, protected island while it awaits an escort back to Spain. John
Bedford Lloyd narrates the action, giving the barbarous characters all
the melodramatic touches they need to work within their range of
stereotype. (Harper Audio)
Elizabeth Gilbert, author of "Eat, Pray, Love," has a new audiobook
out titled COMMITTED: A SKEPTIC MAKES PEACE WITH MARRIAGE. If you'll
remember, at the end of EPL Gilbert had fallen for a Brazilian Aussie
living in Indonesia (there's a combination) who was later detained at
the U.S. border, where Gilbert was told that she either had to marry
him or he could never enter the U.S. again. So the couple embark on a
tour of Southeast Asia for ten months while they contemplate the
prospect of an institution which has claimed many lives in the past (ie.
marriage), including their own (both are victims of divorce, having
sworn never to remarry.) What she does here, with unique effect, is
tally all the pros and cons of the institution by examining historical
data and personal experiences in an effort to come to terms with her
forced legal union. Gilbert was a journalist about masculinity for GQ,
and also author of the National Book Award nominee "The Last American
Man," plus "Stern Men," a novel about a woman who joins a feud among
lobstermen in Maine. She narrates "Committed" herself as a first
person memoir and travel journal with a candid masculine demeanor and
equally feminine sensibilities. (Penguin Audio)
Next, actor Stacy Keach reads Mike Hammer's "The Little Death," a full
cast audiobook which is difficult to produce but a joy to listen to.
The series, as you know, is by Mickey Spillane, one of the most
prolific of mystery writers, while Keach, a veteran film and stage
actor, once played the character on television. Spillane died in 2006,
so this story was completed from a draft by the author of "Road to
Perdition," Max Allan Collins. The plot involves a damsel in distress,
a gumshoe targeted by two-bit hit men, and an underworld kingpin who's
missing a wad of cash. At two hours, it's the length of a movie, so
you can exercise your imagination here while considering it an "audio
movie" that you don't have to sit still for while you watch with your
mind's eye. (Blackstone Audio)
Finally, Dominick Dunne's Gus Bailey returns from "People Like Us"
with his new and last novel TOO MUCH MONEY, in which Gus, like Dunne,
is dying of cancer, and also--like Dunne--is a society columnist whose
examination of the rich and famous once again gets him into trouble.
The plot revolves around a lawsuit from a slandered politician, and
the suspicious death of a billionaire. A longtime Vanity Fair writer,
Dunne was familiar with the snootiest of the jet set, and here, as
usual, he creates fiction using brush strokes taught him during his
time writing exposés on the New York elite. Actress Ann Marie Lee
gives a careful yet buoyant performance to float these eccentric
characters like Titanic survivors over a sea of red ink, oblivious to
the cries of those not lucky enough to merit a lifeboat. (Random House
Audio.)
(Jonathan's new website, about music, movies and books is TowerReview.com) |
BOOKS TO READ WHILE WORKING
January 2010 - Audiobooks reviewed by Jonathan Lowe |
 History
was most cruel for natives of the Americas after the coming of
Christopher Columbus, as the Spanish invaders plundered gold in
exchange for devastating the populace with virulent viruses. But what
if that history could be changed? In PASTWATCH
science fiction author Orson Scott Card postulates the possibility of
time travel to correct the effects begun in 1492 by sending three
travelers back to a time in the Caribbean before Columbus arrived.
These men are well versed in history, and know what to say and do in
order to prepare the natives for Columbus, and to counteract the
Catholic church in the process. The price? The future is forever and
instantly changed to such a degree that even the scientists who
created the time machines will never have existed. This paradox leads
to a discussion of causality in which it is explained that our
experience and belief in something from the past causing what happens
in the future is an illusion, and that causation is actually a
separate thing from time itself. (Physicists know that there is no
true arrow of time, and that, at least in theory, the equations work
both forward and backward identically well). So although the men who
created the time machines will no longer be born after the machines
perform, (and indeed the other two travelers may cease to exist as
well, since the machines are not perfectly synchronized), the time
traveler will himself survive, and possess a memory of what will never
happen. This intriguing audiobook is narrated by Stefan Rudnicki,
Scott Brick and others. Scott, who is a friend of Card, told me this
book is one of his personal favorites. (Blackstone Audio)
It's difficult to imagine a better narrator for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
by Cormac McCarthy than Sean Barrett, (after hearing this short novel
performed), although (knowing his work) I'm sure that Tom Stechschulte
is also superb in his version. What makes Barrett a great choice to
speak the killer's words here is oddly similar to what made Javier Bardem a great choice for the character of Anton Chigurh in the Coen
brothers movie version. Barrett has an understated, calm, but not
quite laid-back air about his delivery, with vocal characteristics to
match. There's an element of tension present that the mirror surface
can't quite hide. You expect the worst to happen, and it does. As for
the story, if you're unfamiliar with it, it's about a escaped killer
tracking a man who found a bag of money related to a failed drug buy.
Tommy Lee Jones plays the sheriff in the movie, and he's trying to
find both men before they find each other. Sounds simple enough. But
as this morality tale plays out against the stark backdrop of west
Texas it also expands its reach past mere entertainment into the realm
of literature by extending its scope beyond three men in the desert to
the bigger questions that have plagued man from the beginning. Hearing
this "audio movie" version will be instructive for Coen brothers fans
and screenwriters too, since you can compare, as I did, the dialogue
between the book and the movie, and so see what choices the Coen
brothers made in editing. Surprisingly, they stayed pretty much with
the story, (except for one major scene), and were true to the dialogue
too, but there are other subtle differences. (Some scenes were
tightened, others emphasized by the Coens. Little extra dialogue was
added, but some was subtracted.) By comparing, you will be able to
figure out why (and which) things work better on the screen or on the
page. As reader, Sean Barrett is an appropriate guide to this very
original story, with spot-on west Texas accents and believable female
characters, too. Speaking in the voice of the killer, though, he's
chillingly real and a minimalist just like Chigurh himself--a man of
few emotions, attuned to destiny, accepting of fate, just telling it
like it is, whether you like what truths are revealed about the world
or not. (Naxos)
In Lauren Grodstein's latest family-centered tear jerker A FRIEND OF
THE FAMILY, credibility is added by what might seem to be narrator
Rick Adamson's emotional empathy with the character of the doctor,
whose distrust of his best friend's daughter escalates when the girl
shows up in her 30s to seduce his son. The son is attempting to
establish a career as an artist, utilizing his father's garage, but
this older woman in his life wants to take him to France after showing
him the ropes of romance. Soap opera fans will especially enjoy the
depths and sensitivity of the story, which contains much less
melodrama and much more realism than anything on television, while
keeping the level of tension high. Those looking for two dimensional
characters involved in fantastical plots, on the other hand, might
want to stay away. There is plenty argument going on here, and cross
accusations. The interesting aspect of the audiobook is how much risk
Adamson takes in pushing the envelope, especially toward the end. This
is superb acting on the level of off-Broadway performance, doubly
notable due to the restrained contrast evoked in other character
voices, which turn on a dime. Once again, you have to ask yourself,
can typical screen actors do this? One may never know, since they
aren't required to do it. (Highbridge)
Finally, Alan Sklar reads MIAMI BABYLON by Gerald Posner, a book that
chronicles the history of Miami Beach from its fledgling Prohibition
days through the corrupt machinations of its sordid developer fights
and payoffs in the 90s. Since the need for tourism clashed with the
wills of permanent residents, clubs like Amnesia fought noise
ordinances with high priced lawyers while distributing Estasy and
belting out thunderous rap music through the surrounding concrete
condo towers. In the TV show CSI MIami, like in the cop show Miami
Vice, you remember those towers and art deco clubs, which whispered by
in the night, but you never saw the bigger battles which became public
as massive egos in both City Hall and developers' drawing rooms vied
for victory, using zoning laws and high rise buildings like pieces on
a chess board. That story is here, well told by Posner and Sklar,
along with the amoral jet set crowd which frequented the raucous clubs
at a time when Madonna penned her book SEX, and when you might be
pepper-sprayed for trying to get into a club she'd just entered. From
coke dealers and playboys to back room real-estate-mogul power plays,
the book is a treasure trove of information on how corruption unfolds
in a city's grab for gold. As for Miami, it's a roller coaster ride
between boom and bust, and the audiobook a cautionary but true tale
about government, race relations, and the inevitability of kickbacks.
(Tantor Media) |
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