King's richly detailed and closely packed narrative is a feast for mind and ear, and Tristan Layton's cultivated British and impeccable French bring to life all the glamour and folly of France's doomed Second Empire. The range of characters, events, and moods requires not so much a range of inflections as it does consistency and a defined pitch, around which the narrative's elements can cohere. These Layton supplies with singular ease and fluidity. Immediately his voice becomes the voice of the text and sustains a dramatic tension that holds the attention and subtly shapes and inflects the narrative. Even the paintings, many imprinted in memory but many unfamiliar, come to life in this extraordinary audio experience.
Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2006
Duration: 16 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Audio Renaissance
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Narrator David Shih impeccably introduces renowned artist Ai Weiwei, whose outspoken stand on the freedoms denied in China has made him a government target. Here he looks at 100 years of Chinese history through his life and that of his father, Ai Qing, a well-known poet. Shih faultlessly captures Ai Weiwei's first-person story and gracefully recites Ai Qing's magnificent poetry. Both men's imprisonment is powerfully conveyed, along with descriptions of cities, remote villages, and vibrant conversations with famous and ordinary people. Ai Weiwei's activism is more widely covered than his art. His sadness, sarcasm, optimism, and wit, as well as quotes from his young son, are enlivened by Shih's considerable skill. Audio enhances this unflinching look at China and an extraordinary man.
Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
Duration: 13 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780399567537
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Author Hisham Matar takes the listener on a melancholy amble around Siena, Italy. His somber voice and precise enunciation enhance his eloquent writing. As he considers great masterpieces from the Sienese School of painting and other works that bring insight to his own life, we learn how the power of art can enlighten us. Meditations on art, love, and existence intertwine with musings on his relationships and the people he encounters in the city as he deals with the loss of his father. Matar's detailed descriptions of several works of art, such as Lorenzetti's unsettling painting of the Madonna and child, are vivid, but the listening experience would be enhanced by viewing images as well.
Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
Duration: 3 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593171080
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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