One hundred years ago this September, a hurricane blew Galveston, Texas, apart, drowning at least 6000 citizens. U.S. Weather Bureau Station Chief Isaac Cline believed that the city was not in the natural path of storms of deadly strength. Larson's account vividly reconstructs the sights, sounds, and smells of turn-of-the-century Galveston from contemporary letters, diaries, journals, telegrams, photographs, and victim lists to examine the tragic consequences of Cline's misjudgment. Richard Davidson resists presenting the pre-storm context in a naïve tone, but reads throughout with appropriate expressions of imminent danger and, later, of catastrophe. Davidson's sense of measured concern helps pace the listener through some eccentric detail to bring out Larson's thoroughly researched account. A bonus cassette contains an upbeat and informative interview with the author, who discusses, among other things, his technique for turning plausible inferences from primary sources into a unique brand of journalistic history.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2000
Duration: 9 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781490648538
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
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
The Gilded Age race to invent automated typesetting was packed with colorful characters and grim reversals of fortune.
Energy more than artistry propels this rich and thoroughly engrossing history of automated printing and its impact on modern media. Author Jarvis isn’t the smoothest of narrators, but his enthusiastic delivery heightens the narrative. And what he delivers sounds very much like a gold rush tale. Setting type remained the final, seemingly impossible step in automating the printing process, and many failures preceded the successful Linotype, which remained the standard for decades thereafter. Mark Twain’s losses after he invested in a competitor are lamentable, but they’re merely tangential to the far more interesting stories of those who succeeded.
The Gilded Age race to invent automated typesetting was packed with colorful characters and grim reversals of fortune.Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2026
Duration: 11 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9798216477341
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: today
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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