Audio Reviews: Week of 9/4/2006

by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 9/4/2006

Fiction

Lee's beloved American classics makes its belated debut on audio (after briefly being available in the 1990s for the blind and libraries through Books on Tape) with the kind of classy packaging that may spoil listeners for all other audiobooks. The two CD slipcases housing the 11 discs not only feature art mirroring Mary Schuck's cover design but also offers helpful track listings for each disk. Many viewers of the 1962 movie adaptation believe that Lee was the film's narrator, but it was actually an unbilled Kim Stanley who read a mere six passages and left an indelible impression. Competing with Stanley's memory, Spacek forges her own path to a victorious reading. Spacek reads with a slight Southern lilt and quiet authority. Told entirely from the perspective of young Scout Finch, there's no need for Spacek to create individual voices for various characters but she still invests them all with emotion. Lee's Pulitzer Prize–winning 1960 novel, which quietly stands as one of the most powerful statements of the Civil Rights movement, has been superbly brought to audio. Available as a Perennial paperback. (Aug.)

Four American tourists vacationing in Cancun make friends with a German traveler and join the hunt for his brother, who has mysteriously vanished after following a new flame to an archeological site. But inadequate planning, horrendous conditions and unforeseen dangers quickly turn this jungle adventure into a fight for survival. The novel itself is creepy, compelling and simple in scope, but the audiobook adaptation doesn't quite succeed in relating the feeling of dread the text imparts. Wilson reads in an assured (if somewhat flat) voice in the tenor range, but his tone often seems too light to properly convey the novel's dark and foreboding mood. He also doesn't do much to differentiate between the characters; although Smith has characters who feel very real and distinct, listeners could have used more help from the narrator to distinguish one point-of-view from the next. A book like this one—which presents the story from several different POVs—would have benefited from a team of talented narrators to help bring the narrative to life. Regrettably, Wilson goes it alone, delivering a sufficient but mediocre performance. Simultaneous release with the Knopf hardcover (Reviews, May 15). (July)

The only thing more enjoyable than reading a Fannie Flagg novel is having Flagg read it aloud herself. A born storyteller, Flagg is a marvelous reader with a warm, welcoming Alabama accent. She immediately puts listeners at ease, priming them for an engrossing yarn that will mix laugh-out-loud hilarity with unabashed sentiment in a novel as thoughtful as it is delightful. Returning to Elmwood Springs, Miss. (the setting of two previous novels), Flagg focuses on a handful of days following octogenarian Elner Shimfissle's fatal fall from a tree. As listeners check in on various residents in town to see how they're reacting to the news and remembering how their lives were touched by the old woman, Flagg alternates bite-size chapters detailing Elner's journey to the afterlife. Flagg completely embodies her delightful characters, adapting a slight vocal scratch for eternally optimistic Elner, a flatter drawl for the ever-complaining hairdresser Tot and a sweet innocence as Elner's hilariously nervous niece, Norma. An uplifting delight. Simultaneous release with the Random House hardcover (reviewed online). (July)

Nothing mars this straightforward, solid production of the final book in Card's Ender series. Every narrator conveys his or her character's personality with nuance and realism. The fleet sent to destroy Lusitania is about to arrive and all the planet's denizens are scrambling. They rush to colonize new worlds, to save two intelligent species from extinction, to try to stop the fleet, to find the creators of the Descolada virus (a threat to all living things) and to find a way for the computer entity Jane—whose faster-than-light travel makes all the other goals possible—to survive shutting down the network that sustains her. Children is philosophical about the purpose and meaning of intelligent life, the interconnectedness of all things and the power of love. These weighty topics could easily sound corny in less skilled hands, but the text is saved by the honest and emotional narration by Gabrielle De Cuir, John Rubinstein, Stefan Rudnicki, Scott Brick, Amanda Karr and David Birney. Light touches of music and special effects for the aliens blend seamlessly into the flow of the production. High quality work all around. (Reviews, July 22, 1996) (July)

The audio of Konrath's latest Lt. Jacqueline Daniels ("Jack" to her fellow drinkers in the Chicago police establishment) is a veritable bargain. Not only do listeners get two actors instead of the customary solitary voice doing both sexes, but they are also treated to the author himself reading a lively new short story about his peppery protagonist. As he did in his first two mixed–drink–titled books in the Daniels series—Whiskey Sour and Bloody Mary—Konrath knows how to stir and shake all his ingredients, from extreme (and occasionally excessive) violence to gut-busting humor. Breck catches Jack to perfection, making her the kind of officer you want on your side, while Hill brings to life Jack's friends, colleagues—and a serial killer known as the Gingerbread Man who makes Hannibal Lector look like a churchwarden. The only problem listeners might face is that if they play this one in their cars, they risk being pulled over by real cops because their outbursts of laughter may cause erratic driving. Simultaneous release with the Hyperion hardcover (Reviews, May 22). (July)

L.A. Theatre Works proves it knows how to package audio dramas with this new recording of Rose's classic play (which began as a 1954 episode of TV's Studio One and then was adapted to the screen in 1957 starring Henry Fonda). Sequestered in a closed room, twelve jurors must decide the fate of a young man who has been accused of first-degree murder and faces the death penalty. One juror must tactically argue to convince the other jurors that this case has significant "reasonable doubt." The talented cast, including Richard Kind, Hector Elizondo, Robert Foxworth, Joe Spano and Dan Castellanetta, provide 85 minutes of riveting entertainment, recorded in front of a live audience. The most trying aspect of this audiobook is matching jurors with actors since the jurors are simply given numbers and not names. The back cover of the audiobook is very helpful; it offers a photo of each actor along with his name and juror number. But it can still be a bit frustrating since characters are never referred to by name or juror number. This slight confusion certainly will not prevent people from enjoying this illuminating play about American justice. (July)

Gaitskill begins her bittersweet novel of the friendship between fashion model Alison and the older HIV+ Veronica (whose looks and habits are totally alien to Alison's stylish world) years later when Alison is older and feeling her body slowly decay. While the book follows Alison's younger self as she prances about Paris catwalks and New York nightclubs, the knowledge that she ends up lonely and broken-spirited casts a pall over the telling of those glittering earlier days. Mazur plays on this well, giving Alison a weary yet wistful tone that conveys the weight of her self-loathing. For Veronica's lines, she skillfully alters her voice to be the "bitterly inflected instrument" Gaitskill describes: nasal, almost braying, but direct and honest in contrast to the timidity and insincerity of Alison's words. The narration can be disorienting as it slips from grim present to various points in the past, but that works to the story's advantage, making all the perspectives bleed together, infusing the whole with sadness. Bleak but compelling, the book affords listeners a wonderfully nuanced glimpse inside a damaged psyche. Simultaneous release with the Vintage paperback (Reviews, Aug. 1, 2005). (July)

Joe DeMarco returns for a second adventure after last year's excellent debut, The Inside Ring. This time out DeMarco, an unofficial operative for the Speaker of the House, is asked to casually look into a security company that may be price gouging the government for its services at a U.S. naval base. However, DeMarco's innocent investigation quickly becomes a deadly matter of national security, involving stolen top secret information, murder and a ruthless Chinese agent out for revenge. Poe does an excellent job reading this complex thriller, providing just the right pace to keep the thrill quality of the material high, yet pulls back when needed in order to present the more human and less melodramatic aspects. He is especially adept in bringing out the humor laced lightly through the book. Poe gives DeMarco a ruffled, slightly put-upon but ultimately heroic persona, a solid, multileveled characterization. Karen DiMattia's abridgment should also be noted, as her judicious cutting manages to keep the story moving at a ready clip but never sacrifices coherency or character. Simultaneous release with the Doubleday hardcover (Reviews, May 29). (July)

Vicky Townsley, single and successful features director of Poise! magazine in London, thinks that marriage and children are all she needs to be happy. Amber Winslow, wife and mother living in Highfield, Conn., feels like her life is out of control. When Poise! offers to help them switch lives in the interest of a magazine article, Vicky and Amber eagerly agree. What they find is that their own lives aren't so bad, and that happiness comes from within (nothing startling here). Landor's overly affected takes on British and American accents are more distracting than enhancing. Her high-pitched children's voices are annoying and her male characters ring false. The lightweight story is enjoyable but overlong. An abridged version that trimmed back on the nonstop inner dialogue and detail-filled scenes would have probably made for a less draggy audiobook. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 17). (July)

The bromide about writing what you know works well for Stanford law professor Goldstein, an expert in intellectual property jurisprudence who participated in a famous case involving ownership of the James Bond film franchise. In his intriguing debut novel, he tosses his burned-out litigator, Michael Seeley, into the middle of a movie studio's homicidal battle to continue to control the rights to a fabulously successful spy series. This adaptation, which dips back into Hollywood's blacklist era, is a pretty intellectual property itself, depending more on character and motivation and moral ambiguity than action and suspense. Keeler relies on shading and subtlety rather than broad vocal interpretation. He segues smoothly from lively descriptive passages to even livelier dialogue sequences. Goldstein enjoys writing scenes in which several people converse at a fast clip; Keeler has no trouble attaching identifying voices to each while matching the novel's snappy patter. The novel ends not with a bang but with a mild joke. As wryly interpreted by Keeler, that seems not only appropriate but completely satisfying for a thinking man's thriller. Simultaneous release with the Doubleday hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 13). (July)

McCall Smith is such a prolific author that he needs at least three readers to keep up with him. The series that transpire in Scotland have two performers. Davina Porter narrates the Sunday Philosophy Club series while Mackenzie performs the series about 44 Scotland Street. Porter is the better performer as she catches the various cadences of Edinburgh's middle class. Mackenzie's characters sound pretty much alike in terms of their accents, with the exception of Angus's hearty brogue. Its also annoying that some of the women are given the same tiny voices used for a six-year-old genius. Best is Mackenzie's over-the-top enactment of Lard, a Glaswegian gangster and his cohorts with their barely comprehensible street slang and thick accents. The major problem with this production is the lugubrious pace of the narration. Although Espresso Tales is the second book in a series, the audio helpfully provides two summaries of characters and events at the beginning. Despite the reader's lack of pep, the author's sly, gentle humor shines through and makes this audio charming and engaging. Simultaneous release with the Anchor paperback (Reviews, May 22). (July)

Kadushin is perfect and perfectly adorable in the role of Lizzie, the bubbly, idealistic "History of Fashion" major whose naïveté, cluelessness and inability to keep her mouth shut land her in one amusing scrape after another. The book's narrative style is ideal for audio: Lizzie tells her story in an eager, breathless first-person monologue that sounds completely natural and believable when read aloud ("I can not believe I just did that. Why did I open my big mouth, especially about something that has absolutely nothing to do with me? I am such an idiot!") Kadushin plays the role to the hilt and makes the audiobook feel like sitting down with a close friend who can't wait to share her latest gossip and secrets. Kadushin is also hilarious as Andy, Lizzie's one-time boyfriend, whose charming British accent can't hide that he's a deadbeat loser, and Dominique, the snooty French-Canadian girlfriend of Luke, the sweet guy whom Lizzie ends up falling for. This entertaining, breezy and lightweight chick lit romance is perfect for beach listening. Simultaneous release with the Morrow hardcover (Reviews, June 5). (July)

Emond has played some amazing characters in the past; her brilliant performance in Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul won her an Obie Award. But she is mismatched for No Good Deeds. Lippman's new crime novel commences with a prologue by Crow, Tess Monaghan's boyfriend. The juxtaposition of male narrator and female voice is rather jarring, but mercifully brief. Emond's strongest suit is her performance of the narrative itself, filled as it is with Lippman's intimate knowledge of South Baltimore and its denizens. Unfortunately, the characters themselves are barely distinguishable: white, black, mature or young—they sound alike. Perhaps Emond was puzzled about how to handle the novel's bizarre plotting—for instance, Crow's insistence on taking home with him the youth who has slashed his tire. It's hard to pay attention to tracking the intricacies of a crime novel when you fear the sleuths need therapy. Perhaps the author is as much off here as the performer. Baltimore crime buffs might opt for a rerun of The Wire instead. Simultaneous release with the Morrow hardcover (Reviews, May 15). (July)

One of the major achievements of Atkins's fictional account of the murder of former mob boss Charlie Wall, the White Shadow of the title, is his mesmerizing recreation of the steamy, dangerous, pulsating city of Tampa, Fla., circa 1955. Surprisingly, Dufris, a veteran of more than 250 audiobooks, selects a straightforward, unaccented and bland approach to the atmosphere-rich novel. The book's protagonist and narrator, reporter L.B. Turner, referred to as a "Virginian," has a New England burr rather than an Old South slur. When it comes to Mafia and Cuban gangsters, Dufris rises to the occasion with an assortment of properly gruff and/or Latin accents. The audio package improves on the novel with a bonus disk, where Atkins eloquently outlines the events that triggered his interest in a nearly 50-year-old murder and offers anecdotes about his research. Just as fascinating are his interviews with former newsmen Bob Turner and Leland Hawes and retired detective Ellis Clifton, men whose voices and memories, presumably recorded during the last few years, seem as vital as they were back in the day. Simultaneous release with the Putnam hardcover (Reviews, June 3). (July)

Hercule Poirot fans will be pleased to hear Hugh Fraser, who plays Captain Hastings on PBS's Mystery! and A&E's Poirot, recount Christie's intriguing 1948 novel (published in the U.S. as There Is a Tide). The celebrated Belgian sleuth visits the sleepy English village of Warmsley Vale to check into the background of Gordon Cloade, supposedly a victim of the London Blitz. He had wed an attractive young widow, the former Mrs. Underhay, now the sole possessor of the Cloade family fortune. The deceased's sister-in-law told Poirot that "spirits" informed her that the widow's first husband is still among the living, raising suspicions about Cloade's demise. Fraser's tone at once reassures listeners that, just as on television, they are in capable hands. He does a fine job creating a variety of character voices, distinguishing one from another with clarity but without excessive flamboyance. The release of any Christie is an event, and it does not taken an abundance of "little gray cells" to deduce that this audio will be well-received. (June)

Rubinstein reads Baer's first novel, aglimmer with purple prose and intelligence world double-dealing, with a tough-guy grunt and a taste for broad comic voices. Baer intends his novel as a fictionalized version of his own experiences as a career CIA officer (his memoir See No Evil was the inspiration for the movie Syriana), incorporating real-life figures like FBI man John O'Neill (who died in the World Trade Center) into his story of a Baer-like intelligence agent who finds himself trapped in a web of global terrorist maneuvering. Rubinstein's reading is solid, but listeners will undoubtedly find that the most fascinating aspect of this audiobook is Baer's chat with author Seymour Hersh. Two experts of the shadowy intelligence underworld, they discuss the relationship between Baer's characters and real figures, and Baer's stated intention to prod the uninformed reader into learning more about the secret workings of the intelligence world. Baer and Hersh deliberately leave things vague, but their hints about the relationship between Baer's book and reality are tantalizing. Simultaneous release with the Crown hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 13). (June)

Blair Brown is one of those rare performers who can capture an author's voice to perfection. She's had plenty of practice performing audiobooks, including Linda Fairstein's Death Dance. Her vibrant reading of Digging manifests her outstanding talent as she moves lightly and briskly through the narrative, pausing ever so slightly before Tyler's clever punch lines for added effect. Brown makes this wry satire about the adoption of foreign babies so laugh-out-loud funny that standup comics could study her timing. Both adults and children are played to perfection. Brown's enactment of Iranian immigrant Maryam Yazdan and Ziba, her daughter-in-law, is amazing in her accurate reproduction of the soft and liquid Farsi vowels. In contrast, American-born Sami, Maryam's son, speaks like the prototypical Easterner. Brown remembers that the children of immigrants sound like their peers, not their parents. This hilarious audiobook actually improves a fine novel. Simultaneous release with the Knopf hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 27). (June)

It will come as little surprise to learn that Poe is a veteran Broadway performer: in reading Labunski's chronicle of James Madison's efforts to ratify the Constitution and pass the Bill of Rights, his voice echoes with effortless assurance, carrying into the virtual back row of any room. Thankfully, Poe mostly avoids the vocal equivalent of theatrical preening and posing. His reading is careful, unassuming and avoids wholly unnecessary showboating. Labunski's narrative revolves around Madison's struggle with fellow Virginian Patrick Henry over ratification, and Poe does a fine job of conveying the steadily ratcheting tension of their battle. Poe colors Labunski's tale with an appropriate array of significant pauses, emphases and hushed mock-whispers, bringing his book to life without resorting to overworked theatrical tricks. He may be a stage veteran, but Poe's reading is anything but stagy. Simultaneous release with the Oxford hardcover (Reviews, May 8). (July)

It's easy to hear why PW named Grover Gardner Narrator of the Year in '05. He uses inflection, stress, rhythm and his rich vocal range to create an easy and often amusing conversational style. This is particularly appropriate for the modern idiom that makes Quammen's book so lively and readable. (He writes, for example, that Darwin did "a vast amount of scholarly nibbling and scribbling.") It took Darwin 21 years (and the threat that someone else might publish first) to publish his theory because almost all his contemporaries held theological views of nature, and his wife feared that she and Charles would not be united in heaven. Quammen explains that the synthesis of Darwin's theory of evolution and Gregor Mendel's genetic discoveries was essential to establish what now underpins all modern science. This short, highly readable book is as valuable as it is timely. Simultaneous release with the Norton hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 17). (July)

Most listeners will already be familiar with Anderson Cooper's dangerous field reporting on CNN. While this autobiography is heavy with those tales of wars and natural disasters, it is also rife with a surprising number of very personal incidents and revelations. His straightforward reading of his on-camera adventures is clear and engaging. But what keeps this reading from being great is his detachment. Perhaps because he has spent his professional life trying to be objective in his role as a journalist (although it could be argued that he became a media star when that facade cracked during his coverage of Hurricane Katrina) the more personal bits of the book are spoken with a level of distance that doesn't quite match up with the subject matter, especially when dealing with such delicate personal issues as his feelings concerning the suicide of his brother. Anderson is a sensational writer and reporter, but this mixture of public and private dispatches would have more power if he'd let his professional persona slip more. Simultaneous release with the HarperCollins hardcover (Reviews, May 8). (June)

Connelly's fondly remembered memoir of his pre-novel writing years as a crime reporter splits reading duties among three performers: Broadway veteran Cariou, acclaimed director Franklin (Devil in a Blue Dress) and familiar audiobook voice McKeon. Cariou's starchy sincerity tangles manfully with McKeon's soothing, dulcet tones and Franklin's unassuming earnestness. Connelly himself gets things started by reading his own introduction, setting the stage by explaining the intimate relationship between his years on the crime beat and his current life as a mystery writer. The rotating chorus of voices is a pleasant change from the usual monotony of single narrators, with the three readers mixing things up for listeners with varied approaches to Connelly's book. Franklin is undoubtedly the least trained of the three, his voice the least varnished with the polish of long practice, but with all due respect to Cariou and McKeon's fine work, he is the most enjoyable reader. Simultaneous release with the Little, Brown hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 13). (June)

What makes Philbrick's book so fascinating and accessible—the way he turns the Pilgrim legend on its head and shakes out fresh insights from the crusty old mythology we all absorbed in grade school—is present in full force in this exceptional audio version. With more than 800 audiobooks to his credit, Guidall gives the term "veteran reader" a whole new meaning. Such leading figures as William Bradford, Benjamin Church and Miles Standish of the so-called Plymouth Colony (which was not even close to Plymouth or its now-famous rock) emerge from the pages of history as understandable if not always admirable figures, and Guidall's evocations of the sadly depleted (by European diseases) Wampanoag Indians and their chief, Massasoit, are equally believable. The bitter voyage of the Seaflower (a slave ship taking captive Wampanoags to be sold in the Caribbean after a disastrous war with Massasoit's son, Philip), which rounds out Philbrick's masterful account, is treated with energy, respect and a straightforwardness that only increases its power. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 6). (June)

This power-to-the-people personal finance book is heavy on motivation: investing is not rocket science; anyone can get started with as little as $25 a month; various financial products eliminate the middle man and charge waifishly thin expenses (which, as Farrell notes, is the only sure-fire way to get a great return). Summers brings great enthusiasm to Farrell's populist manifesto, whether he is praising Vanguard to the skies (does Vanguard get a kickback for this gushing and relentless product endorsement?) or urging people to set up foolproof automatic investments from their paychecks or checking accounts. At times, the marriage of Summers's syrupy voice and some of Farrell's cheesier examples—such as a monkey that allegedly got better returns than Wall Street gurus merely by choosing investments at random—can err on the juvenile side. Also, the gimmicky names of Farrell's various portfolios, such as the Couch Potato and the No-Brainer, begin to run together in the audio version. Still, there is solid advice, and Summers is a competent and sometimes charming narrator. Simultaneous release with the Warner paperback (Reviews, Dec. 15, 2003). (June)