At first, Richard Poe's voice seems too deep, too long-lived to belong to the slender, 44-year-old divorcé telling us his story in Independence Day. But before long, its wisdom comes to seem right for the wondering--and wandering--that mark Frank Bascombe's long holiday weekend. Poe gives a thoughtful, sympathetic voice to Frank's attempts to parse some of the big questions: Can one person save another? Can love conquer disillusionment? Can a place nourish us in ways that people can't? The narrator's understated tone seems right for a realtor who is trying to soft-sell himself on a better version of life than he thought he could afford. Poe manages a broad range of personalities convincingly. The effect is so good it seems petty to note that a couple of characters tend to sound alike, each talking out of the side of his mouth.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 1998
Duration: 20 hrs
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
This audiobook is initially daunting. Sixteen hours long and constructed of subtle—at times, even confusing—shifts in point of view, it may feel overwhelming in the first hour. But sticking with George Newbern’s narration and Gilbert’s prose yields great rewards. Newbern’s performance is funny, thoughtful, heartrending, and utterly engrossing. When the famous, now aging, author A.N. Dyer calls his distant sons to his side, Newbern is provided ample characters to animate, and he does so with perfect pacing and what seems like an innate understanding of the novel. He creates a rhythm that makes the changing perspectives easy to follow and Gilbert’s details accessible. & SONS is a perfect example of how a skilled narrator can make a good book even better.
Pub Date: July 23, 2013
Duration: 16 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780385359566
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Following multiple lives over six decades, this is a story of cultural shifts, the effects of racial prejudice, and family secrets. Joy Osmanski's narration is engaged and easy to listen to. There are times when her narration is uneven and character accents are inconsistent, but she moves the story along at an excellent pace. Will Damron capably narrates a few descriptive paragraphs at the beginning to set the scene. During the '50s, as bombs are explode in Nevada's deserts to entertain Las Vegas tourists, four sets of characters experience the destruction caused by prejudice and social upheaval in their lives. The author skillfully integrates the lives of vivid and realistic characters, bringing them to a satisfying and surprising denouement in the final chapters.
Pub Date: May 2, 2017
Duration: 11 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781508234715
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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