One of the best things about this audiobook is author Sam Wasson's narration. His modulation and timing are as good as any professional narrator's, and his use of accents provides subtle shading to everyone from John Huston to Henry Kissinger. Wasson builds his narrative around the four friends who created the movie CHINATOWN: director Roman Polanski, screenwriter Robert Towne, producer Robert Evans, and actor Jack Nicholson. Wasson combines the backstories (and backbiting) of these four men with the history of L.A. to create a tapestry of Hollywood's unhappy endings. His remarkable research (for example, the tragic inspiration for the movie's "My sister, my daughter" dialogue) provides a maze of details that, by the audiobook's end, fit perfectly into place. This audiobook succeeds as a Hollywood history lesson and a primer on how creative collaboration can lead to a masterpiece.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2020
Duration: 11 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781799751625
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
James Michener tells the real stories behind the man and his books. The recording is read with skill and consistency although the reader does little to enhance the robust, larger-than-life incidents related in the book. Due to the first-person narrative format, there is no opportunity for the narrator to change his voice. This makes some chapters monotonous as they go on and on in the typical Michener style. The listener may also become confused because the stories are not told chronologically. This is not a great choice for the audio format, but Michener fans may stick with it to the end.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 22 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
In a quest for a sense of inner contentment and self-worth, Gloria Steinem brings the reader on a journey of investigation and discovery. Steinem reads the text herself in a straightforward and friendly, but not intimate, presentation which is so easy to listen to it invites repetition--thus ensuring the painless relearning of the lessons of the book. It's difficult to tell from the reading that this audiobook is abridged; each section can stand alone. Nonetheless, the listener wished the book were unabridged. Steinem left me wanting to learn more.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Dove Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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