Narrator Rupert Degas tackles this offbeat "experiment in biography" with conspicuous gusto and the enthusiasm of a man given an assignment he feels born to perform. In 1925, British author Symons was introduced to a previously unknown novel, Frederick Rolfe's HADRIAN THE SEVENTH. This eccentric work led Symons to pursue its even more eccentric author, who styled himself as "Baron Corvo" and remains justifiably unread. Degas performs this landmark genre buster in an expressive and robust British bark that highlights Symons's meticulous research and fertile prose. Symons sees Rolfe as "a defeated man of genius," and although interesting, the baron is everything a failed writer--and one persistently in debt--can be. That subject is somewhat dreary, but narrative and narrator are highly colorful and memorably portrayed.
Pub Date: July 21, 2023
Duration: 10 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781781984758
Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks
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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