James Holman, a lieutenant in the 1812 British navy, loses his sight at age 25 and teaches himself independence from his acquired disability. Using artful expression and Dickensian prose, Jason Roberts manages to make Holman's worldly travels sound like a Victorian novel, including elaborate descriptions of all the minor personae in the blind man's milieu. Narrator John Curless speaks the upper-class English of the sightless officer with duty to each word. Using the measured elocution of a language teacher, but without any unwelcome exaggeration, his resonating voice quickens the author's characters into people we can experience as though we had known them.
Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2007
Duration: 13 hrs
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
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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