Avid readers of Wolitzer's work won’t be disappointed by this new audiobook. The subject matter is timely, and Rebecca Lowman's narration is perfect. Similar to Wolitzer's previous novel, THE INTERESTINGS, this piece follows a realistic cast of characters from youth to adulthood, capturing their trials and triumphs along the way, particularly from a feminist point of view. Lowman moves adeptly among all types of voices and situations, never slipping into melodrama or monotone. In fact, Lowman often crosses into that ineffable narrative zone wherein she herself disappears and the story alone takes center stage. There may be moments when the authorial tone tries too hard to convince us, but Lowman always returns the listener to an empathetic place with warmth and skill.
Pub Date: 2018
Duration: 14 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780525528173
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
American colleges are favorable locales for ghastly event and hair-tearing circumstance. There is, for instance, a good deal of pleasure to be had out of professor and past-prodigy Grady Tripp's awful life, as portrayed by Michael Chabon in WONDER BOYS. There is a certain amount of slapstick here, but it's balanced by Chabon's superb portrait of a gale-force mid-life crisis, a soul-destroying albatross of an unfinished novel and the mind-numbing inconsequence of writers' conferences. David Colacci sounds a little starved for oxygen in his reading, but that's not exactly out of keeping with Grady Tripp's personal gestalt.
Pub Date:
Duration: N/A
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
As a group of men bring their own emotional baggage to their football-obsessed reunion, R.C. Bray delivers his usual solid narration. He shifts his tones slightly but enough to put the listener in the motel with the men, revealing their foibles as the story progresses. The narrator's role in this book is a descriptive one, and Bray is a good guide. His narration becomes extra important because this is a rare instance when there almost isn't a protagonist. The author's well-written story--which alternates between serious and laugh-out-loud funny--uses quarterback Joe Theismann's 1985 injury, a broken leg, as a McGuffin.
Pub Date:
Duration: 5 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781681680057
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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