By now you’ve probably heard about the extreme risks of going up into thin air, thanks to several accounts by Jon Krakauer and numerous documentaries, including an IMAX production. Anatoli Boukreev was a climbing guide for the American expedition that lost its leader, Scott Fisher, on the May 1996 attempt to summit Mt. Everest. Four others died trying to descend from the summit that fateful day in May, but Boukreev used his extensive high-altitude expertise and unbelievable physical strength to work at 24,000+ feet without supplemental oxygen to save all the clients of the Fisher group. Although James engages vocal emotion to capture the terror of unstable crevasses, relentless wind, frostbite and oxygen-starved struggles to walk, he fails to employ a distinct Russian accent for the passages that represent Boukreev’s recollections, making it difficult to keep track of which climber is relating events.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 1998
Duration: 11 hrs
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
More books have been written about baseball than any other sport, and audiobooks such as this allow the genre to flourish. Former pitcher Ron Darling, now a broadcaster, had a distinguished career, primarily with the New York Mets. Darling has met just about everyone in the sport for nearly four decades and demonstrates his knowledge and connections with the anecdotes in this entertaining memoir. Narrator Malcolm Hillgartner's relaxed delivery sounds as though he is in the broadcast booth with Darling. Like most audio sports memoirs, this book succeeds because of the narrator's engaging style. Hillgartner recognizes that even the duller moments in baseball are bolstered by the legacies of so many who have played the game, and were fortunate to have crossed paths with the author.
Pub Date: April 2, 2019
Duration: 7 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781721342457
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Willie Mays's baseball life was a long and rich one, worthy of multiple biographies. Known as a five-tool player--he could run, field, throw, hit, and hit for power--Mays enjoyed a long career. The tag-team narration here fits wonderfully: Larry Herron speaks in a serious and deep tone that is commanding, with appropriate doses of emotion. Julian McWilliams uses a higher voice for Mays who, in fact, does have a slightly high voice. Often, when people are quoted--like President Obama--imitations are used and fit seamlessly within the story. Off- and on-the-field anecdotes are interspersed with brief pieces of advice and mini-mantras from the baseball great.
Pub Date: May 12, 2020
Duration: 11 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781250240231
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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