[Editor's Note: The following is a combined review with MYSTERIOUS STRANGER AND OTHER STORIES.]--These two Twain titles were recorded in the mid 1980s. INNOCENTS is an early Twain work, expanding on a jocular series of travel articles he wrote on a Grand Tour of Europe and the Holy Land. Without trying to imitate Twain, narrator Prichard, who has recorded a number of titles by the same author, nicely plays the vigor, lightness, and wit of the original. He has a distinctly middle-aged sound, and the sharpish register of his voice cuts through the technical muddiness of the recording. Kent's voice does not. In STRANGER, we hear almost every edit, and there are many in his rendition of eight Twain short stories. The selection represents the author's entire career from the early, ironic "Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" to the late, bitter "Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg." Kent's excellent diction ensures that we miss not a word; on the down side, his reading is dry.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 1986
Duration: 21 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Inspiring collections of Angelou reading her poetry. These selections showcase Angelou's smooth, lyrical voice and her warm vitality. Her innate rhythm celebrates her verse and offers the poems to listeners as they should be remembered. Occasionally Angelou comments between the selections, and occasionally she interjects a resonant laugh.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: N/A
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Listeners will be caught up in this cat-and-mouse game between a leading Russian capitalist and young Stalin.
Author and narrator Brunt builds unexpected suspense in this lively biography of Emanuel Nobel, Alfred Nobel’s forgotten nephew, who built and owned Russia’s oil industry prior to 1917. Brunt casts Emanuel Nobel’s story against the hapless final reign of the Romanovs and the tumult of war, revolution, and the Bolshevik coup that replaced it. Rising in the new government was a former oil worker and labor agitator with a particular hatred of Emmanuel Nobel—Josef Stalin. Nobel maneuvers to stay on Russian ground but outside Communist territory, and to keep control of Russia’s oil while resisting the Bolsheviks’ invitation to come to Moscow.
Listeners will be caught up in this cat-and-mouse game between a leading Russian capitalist and young Stalin.Pub Date: May 19, 2026
Duration: 9 hrs, 55 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668117088
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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