De Botton's essays on a variety of endeavors—from accounting to cookie manufacturing to airplane construction—are at once wide ranging, shallow, heartfelt, ironic, and pretentious. David Colacci's lightly astringent voice is agreeable and a good choice for nonfiction; he's skillful, professional, and supplies emotional expression where it's called for. But the narration seems a bit by-the-numbers in the face of de Botton's philosophical and poetic views, and fails to reflect some of the author's nuances and ironies. The book is centered in England and studded with (unexplained) Briticisms, but fortunately Colacci uses his remarkably bad British accent only for the occasional direct quotation. Even his French is better! This is an adequate but unremarkable reading of a maverick book.
Pub Date: June 2, 2009
Duration: 7 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
An interesting Ozark history that doesn’t quite cohere.
Author Hale presents the case of his young cousin Haley's disappearance on Cave Mountain in 2001 and the ensuing search and rescue operation, the largest in Arkansas history. Hale connects this with the murder of 3-year-old Bethany by a small and isolated religious sect decades earlier on the same mountain. Narrating these two stories in a low, slightly gruff tone, Hale weaves together family anecdotes, Ozark lore, local and broader history, and Christian theology. While the two cases are intriguing, the work lacks focus and contains extraneous details.
An interesting Ozark history that doesn’t quite cohere.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
Duration: 11 hrs, 9 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063398153
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2026
Once again, Pollan makes the unknown make sense.
Pollan is a favorite with listeners, and rightly so. He may not possess a silken or practiced voice, and he’d be nobody’s first choice to narrate Proust, but few author-narrators are as engaging or as effectively bonded to their narrative. Pollan here explores one of the most fundamental of questions: What is consciousness? This leads him to other questions. Where exactly is consciousness located? What other species possess it? Pollan takes his listener on a journey through theories and research sites, each rendered with his signature economy and precision. Some sections may require relistening, but the difficulties lie in the subject matter, not the prose. That couldn’t be clearer or more illuminating.
Once again, Pollan makes the unknown make sense.Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217282159
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2026
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