by Jed Perl ; read by Daniel Oreskes ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 11, 2022
Daniel Oreskes's strategic pauses work well to clarify complex phrasing, often making the exact meaning of a sentence jump into the spotlight. This use of his dramatic skills, along with his clear voice and assertive tone, makes absorbing this thoughtful writing an invigorating experience. Artistic innovation versus the authority of tradition is the subject of this defense of how art breaks molds and rebels against existing standards. In the musical, visual, and literary arts, the author says artists need those molds and traditions to ground what they do within an artistic lineage. However, the essence of transformational art is to not be constrained by political and cultural boundaries but to create work that is independent of fixed definitions and categories of correctness.
Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2022
Duration: 3 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593454312
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
by Maya Angelou ; read by Maya Angelou ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A
Inspiring collections of Angelou reading her poetry. These selections showcase Angelou's smooth, lyrical voice and her warm vitality. Her innate rhythm celebrates her verse and offers the poems to listeners as they should be remembered. Occasionally Angelou comments between the selections, and occasionally she interjects a resonant laugh.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: N/A
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
by Gail Godwin ; read by Rosemary Benson ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2026
A doyenne of American literature, Godwin, now 89, adds to her distinguished body of work.
Rosemary Benson has narrated Godwin’s work before, and she conveys the contemplative and appalled tone of this brief memoir. Her performance reveals the author’s disappointment in the country’s state of political affairs during the 2024 election. Godwin sees then-candidate Trump as an emblem of corruption, and she painstakingly analyzes his debate with Kamala Harris and the idea of citizenship, quoting liberally from Brian Tangury’s blog Working-Class Scribbler. Other sections show the arc of Godwin’s long career, recalling her life in the 1960s working for the U.S. Travel Service and her ill-considered marriage.
A doyenne of American literature, Godwin, now 89, adds to her distinguished body of work.Pub Date: June 9, 2026
Duration: 5 hrs, 16 mins
DD ISBN: 9781639739004
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: July 8, 2026
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