Traber Burns provides a narrative performance that resides somewhere between that of a devoted professor and a wise storyteller. That's fitting, because this is a deep, detailed historical document. The stories found here are many, but their overall resonance is important, and relevant to our understanding of the American West. The audiobook tells the story of Black Elk, the Native American whose life rose to wide prominence in BLACK ELK SPEAKS. However, this audiobook is the most definitive work chronicling Black Elk's life, which led him through many historical events, some violent (consider the passage where Black Elk takes his first scalp, or the battles fought against Custer), until he took the role of holy man in his later years.
Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2016
Duration: 22 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781504754347
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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