Elaine Castillo is that rare author who writes a stimulating series of essays and is also a fine narrator. She uses pauses adeptly, restrains irony, and has a naturally empathetic tone. Plus, she has a gift for languages: Her French is spot-on; her German, Germanic . . . Her essays have a distinctively political valence. White supremacy in publishing, literature, and life is skewered. Sacred cows like Joan Didion and Jane Austen are milked. But there are real appreciations of the late English author John Berger and Native American poet Tommy Pico. The title is more didactic than the audiobook; the book itself is more of an invitation to examine how we read--what predispositions we bring--than a how-to manual. This audiobook is provocative and fun.
Pub Date: July 26, 2022
Duration: 9 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780593590546
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Inspiring collections of Angelou reading her poetry. These selections showcase Angelou's smooth, lyrical voice and her warm vitality. Her innate rhythm celebrates her verse and offers the poems to listeners as they should be remembered. Occasionally Angelou comments between the selections, and occasionally she interjects a resonant laugh.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: N/A
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
An audiobook that’s best experienced one chapter at a time, each essay like a daily letter from a friend visiting home.
A series of reflections on Venezuela’s past, present, and future, combined with a travelogue of the Venezuelan author’s visits there after fleeing to Canada. Gustavo Rex’s narration is clear and listenable. His performance has a momentum that propels listeners from sentence to sentence, though his tone, pitch, and style throughout are so consistent that most scenes and chapters are not audibly distinct from one another. This matches the prose, which meanders without a traditional narrative and doesn’t have strong peaks or valleys of emotion.
An audiobook that’s best experienced one chapter at a time, each essay like a daily letter from a friend visiting home.Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs, 12 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668660508
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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