Tovah Ott delivers this unique narrative with focused intelligence. She skillfully narrates the stories of seven immigrant women who influenced American cooking and dining with a fine sense of their ethnicities--Chinese, French, Iranian, Indian, Italian, Mexican, and Jamaican. Ott reveals their personalities, travails, and successes. Author Sen ably tells their disparate stories with rich details of how each came to food and evolved their specialties: writing cookbooks (Marcella Hazan), hosting television shows and creating a brand (Elena Zelayeta), and creating eponymous restaurants (Norma Shirley). They "established their own identities outside their own country." All succeeded on their own terms; some achieved fame, others helped their adopted country experience new tastes, and all dispelled previous notions of their native cuisine.
Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2021
Duration: 6 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593556696
Publisher: Random House Audio
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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