This four-year study of the residents of Annawadi, a shack-town slum outside Mumbai, focuses on specific families, detailing the near-impossibility for upward mobility. The book starts with a pivotal moment, goes back to set up the drama, and then moves forward, making this a challenging audiobook. Listeners initially have difficulty sorting out events and people and, as the story takes shape, can't easily review earlier sections to refresh their memories. In addition, Sunil Malhotra's stilted narration distances listeners emotionally from this heartbreaking look at the vast inequalities in opportunity and the fulfillment of basic human needs in modern India. Malhotra's characterizations lack the finesse that listeners who are unfamiliar with Indian names and jargon need to track the individual stories. The literary quality of the prose is masked by these issues.
Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2012
Duration: 8 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780307934062
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Buckley offers a reasonable proposal for a national service program without jail or criminal penalties. Narrator Lawrence reads with a slow and careful announcer's voice; one wishes Buckley were reading this one himself. Books on Tape does its usual quality job with formatting, packaging and tape-turning instructions. The reader repeats the last sentence at such times, so you're sure you haven't missed anything. Popular nonfiction collections will appreciate Gratitude, and the topic is likely to prove timely in the years ahead.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 5 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Kozol’s shocking exposé of inequities in the funding of our public schools contrasts white suburban schools with those serving black and Hispanic populations. Interviews with students, teachers, and school administrators add eloquent testimony to Kozol’s disturbing presentation of facts. Narration by Jack Winston is clear and brisk, but the pace is unrelenting, with little pause for transition between scenes or chapters. Winston’s cool, detached voice contrasts with Kozol’s impasssioned and outraged message. The sheer repetition and magnitude of Kozol’s damning evidence is numbing; the narration gives no relief. Powerful medicine, most easily taken in small doses. Music signalling tape changes is jarringly inappropriate.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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