Jonathan Fried offers a smooth, easy-on-the-ears performance of this story of early aviation. He clearly and effectively captures the excitement of the early attempts at controlled flight. While he pronounces technical terms and the names of foreign publications with facility, he can't compensate for the author's overly detailed narrative. As the author chronicles the times, he focuses at length on the legal wrangling between pioneer aviators the Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss. But he weighs down the narrative with so much detail and so many side trips that even an able reading can't save the book. It was a thrilling time, full of innovation and derring-do. If the author's tale had matched the era, Fried's reading would have soared.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2014
Duration: 14 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781470397401
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
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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