Biographer Greg Lawrence focuses on the later years of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, her love of books, her career as an editor at Viking and Doubleday, her dealings with authors and co-workers, and more generally, of course, her life as an American icon. His book is essentially an oral history compiled from interviews with those authors, co-workers, and collaborators. Narrator Bernadette Dunne so inhabits these voices, especially the signature breathy whisper of Jackie herself, that one forgets the authorial intermediary. An inescapable weakness of the text is the laudatory tone everyone seems to have in their recollections of Jackie—her graciousness, her erudition, her dedication to the most mundane of editorial chores. Often the narratives seem repetitive in tone and character—oddly, like a series of book blurbs. Even so, this title—interesting, revealing, full of indelible Jackie “moments”—tells more about her glamorous and complicated life than many standard biographies.
Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2011
Duration: 13 hrs
Publisher: Blackstone 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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