Narrator Matt Godfrey presents this study of avarice and hucksterism with fluid pacing, a modulated delivery, and an occasional deadpan tone. He's thoroughly simpatico with the author, a ProPublica reporter, and he makes this first-person audiobook engrossing and occasionally entertaining. The lead example of green at other people's expense revolves around a novice contractor who was awarded a $34 million contract to supply six million masks to the Veterans Administration. He has no idea where he will get them and ultimately fails in his quest. The audiobook moves swiftly through similar travesties and explains how $1 billion in fraud was committed at the height of the pandemic while, at the same time, 500 new billionaires were minted.
Pub Date: April 12, 2022
Duration: 10 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781797138435
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Buckley offers a reasonable proposal for a national service program without jail or criminal penalties. Narrator Lawrence reads with a slow and careful announcer's voice; one wishes Buckley were reading this one himself. Books on Tape does its usual quality job with formatting, packaging and tape-turning instructions. The reader repeats the last sentence at such times, so you're sure you haven't missed anything. Popular nonfiction collections will appreciate Gratitude, and the topic is likely to prove timely in the years ahead.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 5 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Kozol’s shocking exposé of inequities in the funding of our public schools contrasts white suburban schools with those serving black and Hispanic populations. Interviews with students, teachers, and school administrators add eloquent testimony to Kozol’s disturbing presentation of facts. Narration by Jack Winston is clear and brisk, but the pace is unrelenting, with little pause for transition between scenes or chapters. Winston’s cool, detached voice contrasts with Kozol’s impasssioned and outraged message. The sheer repetition and magnitude of Kozol’s damning evidence is numbing; the narration gives no relief. Powerful medicine, most easily taken in small doses. Music signalling tape changes is jarringly inappropriate.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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