Food scholar and writer Jessica B. Harris performs this memoir of her early adult years in New York City in the 1970s. Her romance with Sam Floyd connected her to the black cultural and intellectual elite of the time--people like James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, and Toni Morrison--who influenced her perspective and career. Harris gives an unflashy but precise performance full of intelligence and warmth, belying her modest and self-deprecating assertions about her role in this scene. As much as this audiobook is about a life, it's more about a place and time, and Harris's vivid descriptions, in writing and delivery, demonstrate how the flourishing cultural milieu encouraged her to thrive. Fans of food writing, memoirs, and cultural history will enjoy this production.
Pub Date: May 9, 2017
Duration: 6 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781538425060
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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