This audiobook will certainly become part of the discussion about the extent to which economic opportunity, family dynamics, and race shape one’s destiny. Written by Peace’s roommate for all four years at Yale, the story is at once hopeful, gritty, transcendent, and tragic. George Newbern’s calm but insistent voice sets the tone. His approach to the work is unhurried, and he makes sure we hear every word with the nuance it deserves in order to convey the author’s message. Newbern uses this same method with character voices, making sure that he differentiates them enough from the narrative and using enough inflection that we understand the people’s emotions and motivations.
Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
Duration: 13 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781442380424
Publisher: Simon & Schuster 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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