Narrator Jim Frangione's voice carries an authoritative yet weary weight appropriate for capturing Vonnegut's journey from WWII veteran to renowned author. Roston's audiobook starts with the stunning claim that Vonnegut may have sought to kill his Nazi captors after the war. While Roston dismisses this rumor, his research of Vonnegut's life reveals a naturally skilled writer finding a foothold in the world while struggling with PTSD, a diagnosis that didn't exist at the time. In this way, the writing process that yielded his 1969 novel, SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE, may have served Vonnegut's need to make meaning from his war experience. Frangione's performance embraces Vonnegut's complicated story, guiding listeners with a reverent empathy for the author and his extraordinary experiences.
Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2022
Duration: 7 hrs
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Inspiring collections of Angelou reading her poetry. These selections showcase Angelou's smooth, lyrical voice and her warm vitality. Her innate rhythm celebrates her verse and offers the poems to listeners as they should be remembered. Occasionally Angelou comments between the selections, and occasionally she interjects a resonant laugh.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: N/A
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
An audiobook that’s best experienced one chapter at a time, each essay like a daily letter from a friend visiting home.
A series of reflections on Venezuela’s past, present, and future, combined with a travelogue of the Venezuelan author’s visits there after fleeing to Canada. Gustavo Rex’s narration is clear and listenable. His performance has a momentum that propels listeners from sentence to sentence, though his tone, pitch, and style throughout are so consistent that most scenes and chapters are not audibly distinct from one another. This matches the prose, which meanders without a traditional narrative and doesn’t have strong peaks or valleys of emotion.
An audiobook that’s best experienced one chapter at a time, each essay like a daily letter from a friend visiting home.Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs, 12 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668660508
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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