The ribald 87-year-old blues legend Bobby Rush reads the introduction to his thoughtful memoir, while Leon Nixon narrates the balance of the production. The result is an easy-to-hear and authentic-sounding account of how a gutsy 12-year-old Louisiana guitar player rose from poverty to develop a stage act in Black clubs on the so-called Chitlin Circuit and become a big-city name in blues and pop music. Though Rush's speaking voice and life are decidedly rough-hewn, he's a likable storyteller whose gift for narrative makes this a compelling audiobook. Nixon's performance is perfect for this type of author. His clear voice and diction don't get in the way of capturing the grit and honor in Rush's homespun experiences as a Black musician in mid-century America.
Pub Date: June 22, 2021
Duration: 8 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781549184444
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Moving from deeply despairing to wildly successful, only West could do his own poignant story justice.
Fans of voice actor West may have difficulty reconciling his disturbing childhood with the numerous joyful characters he’s best known for. In this revealing, painfully honest memoir, West recalls life before, during, and after animated series The Ren & Stimpy Show and Futurama, in which he voiced multiple characters. Occasionally reverting to his comic voices to illustrate a point or an anecdote, West details his experiences with his brutal, psychotic father; his early efforts to disassociate himself from beatings and abuse; and the profoundly positive effects TV comics like Sid Caesar and Danny Kaye had on him. Late-in-life diagnoses of ADHD and OCD also gave West some comfort.
Moving from deeply despairing to wildly successful, only West could do his own poignant story justice.Pub Date: July 14, 2026
Duration: 7 hrs, 1 min
DD ISBN: 9798898850111
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: today
Cox delivers both the searing pain and deep beauty imbued in her life journey.
The cudgel of gender conformity has never felt more visceral and brutal, more omnipresent and inescapable than in actor and activist Cox’s spellbinding memoir. Listeners will not be left unchanged by Cox’s courage in speaking her whole truth for the very first time. As narrator, Cox’s voice sometimes sounds armored, because this isn't Cox the performer, but Cox as a fiercely analytical intellectual as she examines how her life story embodies the intersection of gender, race, colonization, and patriarchy. Yes, listeners will hear about her fun rise to fame, which included working with film idols like Jodie Foster, but it is her relationship with feminist icon and scholar bell hooks that informs the backbone of this intelligent, remarkable memoir.
Cox delivers both the searing pain and deep beauty imbued in her life journey.Pub Date: June 9, 2026
Duration: 9 hrs, 56 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668135860
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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