To listeners' good fortune, author Edward Ball narrates as well as many top professionals. His delivery of this fascinating volume, although abridged, offers rewards that the printed version does not. Ball belongs to Southern gentility, a family ensconced in South Carolina since colonial times and once slave-owning plantation farmers. Driven partly by morbid fascination, he traces the descendants of his family's slaves, some of whom turn out to be kin. His account of his search and discoveries is part history, part detective story focusing on the human consequences of "the peculiar institution." All this another reader could have given us with equal clarity and aplomb, except for one thing. In his otherwise Apollonian delivery, Ball gives us the tone of voice, the expressive cadences of his interviewees, thus rendering subtleties of attitude he alone can give us authoritatively--and only in the telling, not the writing. Director Karen Fillman deserves kudos, too, for helping her reader do justice to this true tale with intimacy and taste.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 1998
Duration: 5 hrs
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Carol Matthau epitomizes a glamour and lifestyle not associated with the 1990's. Here is a life of privilege, tragedy and worry about what friends would think of her new frock or lover. Matthau possesses a voice and delivery that simply could not be improved on. In her coy whisper, she tells compelling stories involving everyone from William Saroyan (husband #1) and Truman Capote to Carson McCullers, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Walter Matthau (husband #2). This excellent audio presentation will leave you wanting to read the entire book to discover what juicy tidbits were left out.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: The Publishing Mills
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
As America celebrates its semiquincentennial, it’s enlightening to look back at how the country celebrated its...
The Great Centennial Exhibition was designed to celebrate a century of U.S. history and progress and to make a statement that the country was a technological and diplomatic world leader as the globe looked toward the 20th century. Author Bordewich frames his chronicle of the exhibition by focusing on four key figures—President Rutherford B. Hayes; Alexander Graham Bell; railroad magnate Tom Scott, who spearheaded the fair; and sculptor Edmonia Lewis, whose work broke racial and gender barriers. Narrator Sean Patrick Hopkins’ conversational tone perfectly suits the material. He adds a bit of lilt for humorous and ironic passages. His pace makes it easy to follow the material, and the author’s writing style adapts well to audio.
As America celebrates its semiquincentennial, it’s enlightening to look back at how the country celebrated its centennial.Pub Date: June 9, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs, 12 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217340187
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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