Mama Ruby is a highly unconventional mother--a five-hundred-pound Bible-thumping African-American who buries the bodies of the men she has murdered in her own back yard. Mama’s history is just as unusual. After another woman delivered a stillborn daughter, Mama Ruby miraculously brought the baby to life--and stole her, fleeing to the Everglades. As the story follows this usurper mother from the girl’s birth to adulthood, one of the most bizarre, and chilling families in contemporary fiction comes to life. As daughter Maureen approaches adulthood, two conflicting forces converge: Mama’s emotional dependence on her daughter and Maureen’s natural desire for romance and independence. Kevin Free is so skillful that the listener will forget the narrator of this dark comedy is a man.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2002
Duration: 9 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Recorded Books/ Griot Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
In this fascinating coming-of-age portrait, Thomas Black Bull's journey from the child, Bear's Brother, to the fearsome rodeo rider, Killer Tom Black, is painted with compassion and insight. Forced to learn the White Man's ways, Tom reaches adulthood consumed by rage. Read with great vigor by Norman Dietz, the recording bursts with the energy of rodeo circuit and transports the listener to the southwest. The accurate portrayal of Tom's Ute ancestry and way of life, the sorrow and frustration of losing his heritage, and his angry retaliation at the world make this an excellent listening choice for adults and teenagers. It would also be a wonderful addition to high school units on the Native American experience.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 10 hrs
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
George S. Irving adopts Patrick McManus's characters with gusto. Sit back and listen to yarn after yarn. Irving relishes each story, whether it's fishing stories, such as "Claw of the Sea-Puss" or "To Filet or Not to Filet," or the escapades with McManus's wary but vulnerable neighbors. Irving has the jocular chuckle down pat, and the low comedy satire comes off without a hitch. Listeners can imagine Irving tipping back a chair at the country store swapping lies with cronies and entertaining any comers with these hilarious tales. His repertoire of more than eight collections of McManus stories encourages this kind of ownership!
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: DH Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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