Director, actor, and writer Simon Callow, who has toured with his one-man show on Charles Dickens, offers his own study of composer Richard Wagner. The narration is a fascinating and effervescent tour de force that has the energy of a stage performance rather than a studio recording. The performance, which is part analytical biography, is approachable and irresistible. Germany's political and social upheaval in Wagner's time creates the setting for sketching a most disagreeable and loathsome man who was also an undisputed musical genius, with at least 10 musical masterpieces to his credit. Listeners may want to augment their experience by interspersing or following their listening with some Wagnerian music to complete the enlightened portrait.
Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2018
Duration: 6 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780525632436
Publisher: Random House 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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