Great Classic Stories III

This latest installment in the Great Classic Stories series contains 22 unabridged tales from Herman Melville, Jack London, Willa Cather, and Mark Twain, among others. That many of the stories are lesser-known works—e.g., “The New Catacomb” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is not a Sherlock Holmes mystery—makes this audio edition all the more enjoyable. Read by a cadre of talented narrators, the standout performers include John Lee, whose character portrayal is always pitch-perfect; Jennifer Bradshaw, who captures the essence of Kate Chopin’s mesmerized shopper in “A Pair of Silk Stockings”; and Gerard Doyle, who lends an appropriate Irish flavor to James Joyce’s “A Painful Case.” Overall, listeners will find this audio collection highly entertaining and thoughtfully selected. (Sept.)