Mike Ortego gets Talese. Ortego artfully performs Talese's polished sentences and captures the flavor of his urbane worldview with a writerly tone. For this is an audiobook of enhanced remembrances. Talese returns to the sights and sounds of his most famous and influential piece of creative nonfiction, the New Journalism classic "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold," and entertains the listener with its backstory and context. There is a fine new piece on the bizarre death of Dr. Nicholas Bartha, who blew up his Upper East Side townhouse in Manhattan. And an insightful profile of the famous NEW YORK TIMES obituary writer Aldon Whitman. Indeed, there is much about the TIMES in the 1960s, the paper where the now 91-year-old Talese got his start.
Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
Duration: 8 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780358578376
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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