Narrator Austin Ku captures the rhythms and tone of Chinese folktales within the contemporary pace and observations of Tang's debut novel. A professor at a California university receives an urgent phone call from his mother in China. He must return home to his family's rural village to help search for his aging father, who is missing. Taking place in the fascinating time between the end of the Cultural Revolution and the birth of China as a superpower, the story weaves drama, coming-of-age elements, and historical fiction. Ku deftly balances the professor's flashbacks to his first love with his experience of meeting her in a new China he hardly recognizes. Tang's prose and Ku's sensitive delivery illustrate how everyday lives can seem epic.
Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022
Duration: 11 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593587133
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
In this fascinating coming-of-age portrait, Thomas Black Bull's journey from the child, Bear's Brother, to the fearsome rodeo rider, Killer Tom Black, is painted with compassion and insight. Forced to learn the White Man's ways, Tom reaches adulthood consumed by rage. Read with great vigor by Norman Dietz, the recording bursts with the energy of rodeo circuit and transports the listener to the southwest. The accurate portrayal of Tom's Ute ancestry and way of life, the sorrow and frustration of losing his heritage, and his angry retaliation at the world make this an excellent listening choice for adults and teenagers. It would also be a wonderful addition to high school units on the Native American experience.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 10 hrs
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
George S. Irving adopts Patrick McManus's characters with gusto. Sit back and listen to yarn after yarn. Irving relishes each story, whether it's fishing stories, such as "Claw of the Sea-Puss" or "To Filet or Not to Filet," or the escapades with McManus's wary but vulnerable neighbors. Irving has the jocular chuckle down pat, and the low comedy satire comes off without a hitch. Listeners can imagine Irving tipping back a chair at the country store swapping lies with cronies and entertaining any comers with these hilarious tales. His repertoire of more than eight collections of McManus stories encourages this kind of ownership!
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: DH Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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