Who writer Joan Didion was has never been clearer than in her attempt to trace the emotional cosmos of her deeply troubled adopted daughter, Quintana. Built from a set of notes left on her desk, this posthumous work lends itself particularly well to narrator Julianne Moore's delicate twang. Whereas much of Didion's oeuvre is identifiable for its razor-sharp economy of language, these notes have a more languid style--ambling clumsily towards insight, more captivated by the journey of thought than the climax of epiphany. With distinct tones for Didion and her Freudian psychoanalyst, Moore cohesively reproduces transformative years of talk therapy, sensitively voicing Didion's keen analyses of depression and the never-ending guessing games and exhausting delegations that parents of alcoholics and addicts will find heartbreakingly familiar.
Pub Date: April 22, 2025
Duration: 6 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217168859
Publisher: Random House 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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