Amin El Gamal is a talented narrator who brings out the drama and grit of the alleyways of modern Tehran. He becomes the voice of Issa, a salesman who is increasingly drawn into the lives of those living on the margins in his downtrodden neighborhood. Fans of international literature will sink into this story of how oppression seen cannot be unseen--especially by this reluctant antihero. El Gamal has a lovely rich baritone that makes Issa more sympathetic and his pain more immediate. The listener hangs on every word as Issa uncovers social taboos--such as his late brother's forbidden queer lifestyle. Listeners will become engrossed in the complex world this skilled narrator unfolds.
Pub Date: 2023
Duration: 7 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593789803
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
American colleges are favorable locales for ghastly event and hair-tearing circumstance. There is, for instance, a good deal of pleasure to be had out of professor and past-prodigy Grady Tripp's awful life, as portrayed by Michael Chabon in WONDER BOYS. There is a certain amount of slapstick here, but it's balanced by Chabon's superb portrait of a gale-force mid-life crisis, a soul-destroying albatross of an unfinished novel and the mind-numbing inconsequence of writers' conferences. David Colacci sounds a little starved for oxygen in his reading, but that's not exactly out of keeping with Grady Tripp's personal gestalt.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: N/A
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
As a group of men bring their own emotional baggage to their football-obsessed reunion, R.C. Bray delivers his usual solid narration. He shifts his tones slightly but enough to put the listener in the motel with the men, revealing their foibles as the story progresses. The narrator's role in this book is a descriptive one, and Bray is a good guide. His narration becomes extra important because this is a rare instance when there almost isn't a protagonist. The author's well-written story--which alternates between serious and laugh-out-loud funny--uses quarterback Joe Theismann's 1985 injury, a broken leg, as a McGuffin.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 5 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781681680057
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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