Will Watt and Mike Ortego provide the main narration of this novel about the multigenerational impact of the Armenian Genocide. The story blends the worlds of wrestling and backgammon with scenes of political intrigue and violence. Both narrators do not overemphasize the most devastating moments, focusing listeners' attention upon the effects of historical events on the course of everyday lives. Watt illuminates the tensions that arise from cousins Avo and Ruben's participation in Armenian causes. Ortego adeptly captures former wrestler Terry's canny but thoughtful tone as he reflects on managing Avo's wrestling career in the U.S. and on the loss of his younger brother. Mary Jane Wells reveals Avo's former girlfriend, Mina's unease with Ruben in the only chapter she narrates.
Pub Date: 2020
Duration: 11 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780062989444
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
American colleges are favorable locales for ghastly event and hair-tearing circumstance. There is, for instance, a good deal of pleasure to be had out of professor and past-prodigy Grady Tripp's awful life, as portrayed by Michael Chabon in WONDER BOYS. There is a certain amount of slapstick here, but it's balanced by Chabon's superb portrait of a gale-force mid-life crisis, a soul-destroying albatross of an unfinished novel and the mind-numbing inconsequence of writers' conferences. David Colacci sounds a little starved for oxygen in his reading, but that's not exactly out of keeping with Grady Tripp's personal gestalt.
Pub Date:
Duration: N/A
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
As a group of men bring their own emotional baggage to their football-obsessed reunion, R.C. Bray delivers his usual solid narration. He shifts his tones slightly but enough to put the listener in the motel with the men, revealing their foibles as the story progresses. The narrator's role in this book is a descriptive one, and Bray is a good guide. His narration becomes extra important because this is a rare instance when there almost isn't a protagonist. The author's well-written story--which alternates between serious and laugh-out-loud funny--uses quarterback Joe Theismann's 1985 injury, a broken leg, as a McGuffin.
Pub Date:
Duration: 5 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781681680057
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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