Rebecca Lowman's quiet but expressive performance perfectly captures O'Gieblyn's essays about coming of age in a Midwestern evangelical family before losing her faith altogether. O'Gieblyn is wry and affectionate as she riffs on her parents' stocking up on dried food rations in anticipation of the end of the world in 1999 or her own catching the intentionally convenient bus from college to a megachurch. Lowman captures the nuances of amusement and love and wonder as O'Gieblyn describes her obsession with Christian rock until her discovery of Nirvana brings it to a screeching halt and a visit to Henry Ford's Greenfield village, where written history is deemed "bunk" because it focuses on leaders instead of ordinary people living simple, rugged lives. Eventually, the whole family collapses gratefully onto a slow-moving carousel in the crushing Midwestern heat.
Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2018
Duration: 7 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780525640349
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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