The title refers to a Depression-era song that captured the zeitgeist of the New Deal society and culture. Focusing on the milieu of the 1930s, an art critic dwells on the enormous effect poverty and hopelessness made on American arts: films, novels, theater, and music. Dickstein provides examples from hundreds of sources, making peripatetic leaps through time as he pontificates. Narrator Malcolm Hillgartner inflects the narrative by nearly yelling at times and then dropping to a level that is barely audible. He does a Yiddish accent and reads complete lines of the language. After warming to Hillgartner’s turgid style, listeners may come to agree that he aptly reproduces the aesthetic changes Dickstein discusses in his gloomy Steinbeck-like portrayals of life and penury.
Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2010
Duration: 21 hrs
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Carol Matthau epitomizes a glamour and lifestyle not associated with the 1990's. Here is a life of privilege, tragedy and worry about what friends would think of her new frock or lover. Matthau possesses a voice and delivery that simply could not be improved on. In her coy whisper, she tells compelling stories involving everyone from William Saroyan (husband #1) and Truman Capote to Carson McCullers, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Walter Matthau (husband #2). This excellent audio presentation will leave you wanting to read the entire book to discover what juicy tidbits were left out.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: The Publishing Mills
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
The history of the National Road is really a history of early American expansion.
Decades before the United States existed, George Washington the surveyor envisioned a road connecting the Potomac and Ohio rivers. He helped develop it, and as president, he championed it. Washington saw the road as the tie that would bind the East and what was then the West (now Midwest). This audiobook chronicles the development of the road and its eventual extension to the Mississippi River. With Basil Sands’ narration, listeners can follow the account easily, especially given the author’s extensively detailed text. Sands’ tone is generally even, with slight variations adding notes of flavor. This is especially helpful as there are limited direct quotes to enliven things. In addition to Washington, author Crytzer profiles Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin, who fought for funding, and Henry Clay, who championed the road’s extension through Indiana and Illinois.
The history of the National Road is really a history of early American expansion.Pub Date: April 14, 2026
Duration: 10 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9798318563508
Publisher: Tantor Media
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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