Francine Prose is a prolific author of novels and nonfiction, as well as a writing professor. Her first memoir focuses on a pivotal year. She narrates with a halting cadence and a kind of singsong delivery, yet her tone sounds flat. More's the pity--her prose is elegant, and she's a fine storyteller, setting the listener squarely in San Francisco of the year 1974, when she had a relationship with Tony Russo, Daniel Ellsberg's accomplice in the theft of the files that became THE PENTAGON PAPERS. Prose defines this period as a time when the "ideas of the previous decade" became "monetized." There's a fine rendering of not great sex and a terrific exegesis of Hitchcock's VERTIGO. But try the print edition.
Pub Date: June 18, 2024
Duration: 8 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063314115
Publisher: Harper Audio
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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