This follow-up to Morris's Pulitzer Prize-winning THE RISE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT focuses on the events of TR's presidency. Morris is far more interested in policy and public event than in the personal or psychological, a focus that is disappointing for students of family dynamics or fans of Alice Longworth, but this is otherwise an invigorating study. Jonathan Marosz is a merely adequate choice to render the life of this passionate, intellectual, voraciously curious, and self-improving character. Marosz's French pronunciation is incomprehensible, and there's enough language of diplomacy that it matters. He is sloppy; "a deux" is not the same as "adieu," and it's "Pierpont" Morgan, not "Pierpoint," for heaven's sake. Worst, he reads with so little energy, dropping his voice every five words in spite of punctuation or sense, that you constantly get Roosevelt saying things like, "I feel most emphatically that we should not turn into shingles. A tree which was old when the first Egyptian conqueror penetrated to the valley of the Euphrates ..." It's distressing to hear a fine book read by someone with no apparent interest in the material, though the good news is that it is undoubtedly a fine book.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2002
Duration: 24 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
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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