As Michael Eric Dyson, academic, author, and radio host, narrates his own audiobook, he knows what he wants emphasized and where to inflect the prose. This is especially important when reading a text that focuses on a president for whom speech-making matters. One of Dyson's most intriguing insights is how Obama's speech patterns owe a debt to Martin Luther King, Jr. In this wide-ranging yet focused treatment of the nation's first biracial chief executive, the listener is immersed in the Obama years examined through the filter of race--especially the president's struggles with Congress and his complex role as both hero and scold to American blacks. Dyson ends with appreciation for Obama's orations about Trayvon Martin and the murders in a Charleston, South Carolina church. The author/narrator's intense reading style and insider status give this important audiobook authority.
Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2016
Duration: 10 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781501905919
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Buckley offers a reasonable proposal for a national service program without jail or criminal penalties. Narrator Lawrence reads with a slow and careful announcer's voice; one wishes Buckley were reading this one himself. Books on Tape does its usual quality job with formatting, packaging and tape-turning instructions. The reader repeats the last sentence at such times, so you're sure you haven't missed anything. Popular nonfiction collections will appreciate Gratitude, and the topic is likely to prove timely in the years ahead.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 5 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Kozol’s shocking exposé of inequities in the funding of our public schools contrasts white suburban schools with those serving black and Hispanic populations. Interviews with students, teachers, and school administrators add eloquent testimony to Kozol’s disturbing presentation of facts. Narration by Jack Winston is clear and brisk, but the pace is unrelenting, with little pause for transition between scenes or chapters. Winston’s cool, detached voice contrasts with Kozol’s impasssioned and outraged message. The sheer repetition and magnitude of Kozol’s damning evidence is numbing; the narration gives no relief. Powerful medicine, most easily taken in small doses. Music signalling tape changes is jarringly inappropriate.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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