This audiobook is about the unequal recovery of some Americans from the 2008 economic crash, specifically those who are still struggling in the Sunbelt. Narrator Ramon de Ocampo provides a steady voice to describe the unsteady lives of the addicts, hustlers, Disney World workers, and other scrapers-by who live on the outskirts of Mickey Mouse's empire. Many theme park workers can't afford to live near the high-end housing where tourists stay, so they occupy motel rooms and homeless camps along Route 192. Their lives are marked by "barely": barely able to pay the rent, barely able to eat, barely able to survive. This is a deeply disturbing audiobook about housing inequality, its causes and impacts. De Ocampo's performance is admirable. It is well paced, and he employs voices and strategic pauses to good effect. In sum, both the writing and narration are first-class.
Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021
Duration: 8 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781250823786
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Kozol’s shocking exposé of inequities in the funding of our public schools contrasts white suburban schools with those serving black and Hispanic populations. Interviews with students, teachers, and school administrators add eloquent testimony to Kozol’s disturbing presentation of facts. Narration by Jack Winston is clear and brisk, but the pace is unrelenting, with little pause for transition between scenes or chapters. Winston’s cool, detached voice contrasts with Kozol’s impasssioned and outraged message. The sheer repetition and magnitude of Kozol’s damning evidence is numbing; the narration gives no relief. Powerful medicine, most easily taken in small doses. Music signalling tape changes is jarringly inappropriate.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
An absorbing drama.
Reena Dutt takes listeners to Cleveland Heights, where Sam disappears the morning after a fight with her wife, Aliya. Umrigar’s text immerses listeners in both women’s experiences, switching perspectives deliberately. Dutt evinces grief, terror, and rage (alas, often conveyed in clunky figurative language) as Sam and Ali navigate this cataclysm, which is complicated by their status as a mixed-race, queer couple. Dutt’s voice for Ali is grave and deliberate, and for Sam, lighter but still firm. Secondary figures are also carefully characterized; the lead investigator and Ali’s Indian Muslim father are particularly well realized. Dutt’s attention to detail extends to the pronunciation of Ali’s name: correctly South Asian in the mouths of those who know her well, broadened to a nasal “alley” by Americans who don’t.
An absorbing drama.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
Duration: 11 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781668655023
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2026
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