Author A.J. Jacobs narrates his newest pop-culture examination of history with energy and enthusiasm. Setting out to understand what it means to live by the Constitution, Jacobs blends serious reflection and interviews with constitutional law experts with personal experiments. He uses a quill pen on cotton rag paper to write opinions that he hands out in Times Square (the right to free speech) and totes a 1700s musket around Manhattan (the right to bear arms). Since women weren't allowed to sign contracts when the Constitution was written, he briefly tries to do his wife's contract-negotiation job. Jacobs's high-pitched raspy voice isn't a professional narrator's, but he reads with a smile and knows how to get a point across in this thoughtful, entertaining work.
Pub Date: May 7, 2024
Duration: 9 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593506318
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
James Michener tells the real stories behind the man and his books. The recording is read with skill and consistency although the reader does little to enhance the robust, larger-than-life incidents related in the book. Due to the first-person narrative format, there is no opportunity for the narrator to change his voice. This makes some chapters monotonous as they go on and on in the typical Michener style. The listener may also become confused because the stories are not told chronologically. This is not a great choice for the audio format, but Michener fans may stick with it to the end.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 22 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
In a quest for a sense of inner contentment and self-worth, Gloria Steinem brings the reader on a journey of investigation and discovery. Steinem reads the text herself in a straightforward and friendly, but not intimate, presentation which is so easy to listen to it invites repetition--thus ensuring the painless relearning of the lessons of the book. It's difficult to tell from the reading that this audiobook is abridged; each section can stand alone. Nonetheless, the listener wished the book were unabridged. Steinem left me wanting to learn more.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Dove Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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