This audiobook is a welcome exception to light, and overly hopeful, memoirs. The author, a NEW YORK TIMES columnist, is unsparing in his truthfulness and emotion. Yes, there are hope and life and happiness, but Blow also accentuates the grittiness, racism, and challenges he faced growing up in the South in the 1970s. As narrator, Blow has a deep, low voice that has an Everyman quality to it. He reads much too slowly and with little variation in pitch and tone, but his diction is excellent, and his story is compelling. The importance of the book is that it's Blow's story, and he makes it sound personal. He creates a vivid world that is captivating and absorbing.
Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
Duration: 10 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781491530191
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
James Michener tells the real stories behind the man and his books. The recording is read with skill and consistency although the reader does little to enhance the robust, larger-than-life incidents related in the book. Due to the first-person narrative format, there is no opportunity for the narrator to change his voice. This makes some chapters monotonous as they go on and on in the typical Michener style. The listener may also become confused because the stories are not told chronologically. This is not a great choice for the audio format, but Michener fans may stick with it to the end.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 22 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
In a quest for a sense of inner contentment and self-worth, Gloria Steinem brings the reader on a journey of investigation and discovery. Steinem reads the text herself in a straightforward and friendly, but not intimate, presentation which is so easy to listen to it invites repetition--thus ensuring the painless relearning of the lessons of the book. It's difficult to tell from the reading that this audiobook is abridged; each section can stand alone. Nonetheless, the listener wished the book were unabridged. Steinem left me wanting to learn more.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Dove Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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