Iranian author Mandanipour has written a beautiful and tragic book of short stories, and Fajer Al-Kaisi's narration makes them even more urgent and visceral. Modern Iranian life--including graphic descriptions of warfare and urban sectarian violence--is often juxtaposed with the beauty of the ancient Persian way of life, or at least the imagined versions of many of the tortured characters Al-Kaisi so expertly voices: a dying Iraqi prisoner of war, a self-satisfied former government employee who interprets dreams, prison inmates who routinely beat each other to feel the joy of human connection, among others. Al-Kaisi's clear articulation makes the listener a participant in the often strange behavior the characters exhibit. A challenging and engaging performance.
Pub Date: 2022
Duration: 5 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781696607681
Publisher: HighBridge 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:
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:
Duration: 5 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781681680057
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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