With the sprightly tone and buoyant pace of a PBS special, Grover Gardner describes the rise and decline of the New England fishing industry and its effect on the unique Massachusetts town of Gloucester. He ably replicates the voices of the immigrants who manned successive fleets and often perished in rough weather. As the town became connected to suburban Boston via Route 128, shoreline real estate values skyrocketed as fishing jobs disappeared with the cod and the haddock. The filming of THE PERFECT STORM helped, but only temporarily. The story includes comparisons with villages in Sicily and Cornwall as well as recipes for which listeners might need shorthand. What resident artists like Winslow Homer immortalized in paint, Gardner has delightfully portrayed in audio.
Pub Date: June 10, 2008
Duration: 6 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Dr. Plotkin is an ethnobotanist who recounts his experiences searching for new medications in the Amazon rain forest. He makes an impassioned plea for the world to stop destroying this irreplaceable resource. Since the author reads his own work, we can rely on the pronunciation of some unusual botanical terms; however, his voice (presumably not trained for performance) lacks the enthusiasm and fascination the words suggest. Furthermore, with no chapter references and few pauses between sections, transitions, such as the change of location from Ecuador to Massachusetts, are awkward.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Once again, Pollan makes the unknown make sense.
Pollan is a favorite with listeners, and rightly so. He may not possess a silken or practiced voice, and he’d be nobody’s first choice to narrate Proust, but few author-narrators are as engaging or as effectively bonded to their narrative. Pollan here explores one of the most fundamental of questions: What is consciousness? This leads him to other questions. Where exactly is consciousness located? What other species possess it? Pollan takes his listener on a journey through theories and research sites, each rendered with his signature economy and precision. Some sections may require relistening, but the difficulties lie in the subject matter, not the prose. That couldn’t be clearer or more illuminating.
Once again, Pollan makes the unknown make sense.Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217282159
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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