Tracy Kidder's portrait of Dr. Paul Farmer, the Harvard professor who is working to eradicate deadly infectious diseases and concurrent poverty worldwide, is a fascinating one. Trailing Farmer and his associates through Haiti, Peru, and the States, Kidder was witness to Farmer's brilliance, daring, and infuriating habit of being both provocative and right. Paul Michael captures the book's mix of intensity and elaboration beautifully. He offers conversations and the story's many dramas with just the right amount of edge-of-your-seat passion. And by varying his pace and tone, Michael also manages to keep one keenly involved in the interesting, though long, expository passages in which Kidder explores the intersection of medicine and geopolitics today. A very good rendition of an important book.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2003
Duration: 10 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Books on Tape
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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