The complete stories of Alistair MacLeod number only 16, but these have been enough to elevate this Scots-Canadian writer to the highest regard among critics and readers. The Scots inflections of John Lee bring out all the grace and precision of MacLeod's prose. Arranged chronologically, these stories reflect themes of family, coming of age, and mortality, set against the hard landscape of Cape Breton Island. Lee captures the brisk clarity of MacLeod's prose, the matter-of-fact unsentimentality that belies deep sentiment, the exactitude of hard labor that threads from story to story. His accomplished delivery brings continuity and cohesion to these 16 stories, which share common themes and setting and interesting affinities of tone. MacLeod has only recently come into wide recognition here in the United States, and this fine collection is an excellent opportunity to experience his remarkable body of work in its entirety.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2001
Duration: 13 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A series of terrifying accounts of the macabre is brought to life through David Ledoux's splendid reading. Ledoux offers a straightforward approach, making Hill's startling tales as believable as they are frightening. As narrator, Ledoux understands these stories—be it the dazzlingly imaginative "Pop Art" or the tense "Best New Horror," in which the central character is a horror editor who finds himself entrapped in one of his stories. Hill is a master at creating a high-tension atmosphere that never ceases to pay off with a scare. This innate ability is perfectly realized by Ledoux, who knows precisely when to increase his tone and pitch, or let his voice accelerate to increase the stakes. Dark, brooding, and realistic, Ledoux's performance is underplayed where it could go over the top.
Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2007
Duration: 12 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780061554667
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Ottessa Moshfegh, author of several audiobooks, one of which she narrates, steps in to deliver this new production of the late Leonard Cohen's early fiction, written in the 1950s. The 16 short stories and a novella are a snapshot of the period and the artist's development of his voice. Cohen focuses on themes of violence, deeply intimate sex, rejection, the betrayals of old age, and more violence. Moshfegh's voice may be unexpected, given Cohen's many first-person male characters, but, curiously, it works. Moshfegh meets the moments of sexual intimacy, and of shocking violence, straight on, conveying a reverence for these early works.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2022
Duration: 7 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781696609784
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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