Larbi

A good but not a great listen

Revisado: 03-26-13

We were looking for a book we could both appreciate on a two hour drive and this was our compromise choice. The performance was very good and it held our interest both going up and coming back.

This is not a book of celebrity gossip or shallow reflection. That is its strength. It is a serious analysis of how Steve Martin evolved into a stand up comic, how he succeeded, and why he stopped. It candidly examines his relationship with his family, how his routine developed, who and what influenced him and how he succeeded at a particular moment in time. It also examines why he stopped at the height of his comic popularity and started making films.

Not surprisingly Steve Martin is a really effective reader and it was his performance that was the standout characteristic of the audio. Because it is a memoir it was effective to have it read by an author whose narrative skill is professional. The story is intelligent and carries you along and is very satisfying if you are looking for something to pass the time, but in the end it wasn't all that memorable.

If you grew up during Steve Martin's early career this is likely to be more of interest to you than to younger people unless you are familiar with his very visual brand of comedy during the 70s.

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Very enjoyable and well narrated

Revisado: 05-18-08

I'm usually not a big fan of authors' narration of their own work-I usually prefer more professional readings- but Clive James' reading of his own work was excellent and very enjoyable. I found the book fascinating from the preface right through the last essay. I only wish the version were unabridged.

The essays were both thought-provoking and insightful. They have already sent me back to many of the texts discussed with enhanced understanding and appetite.

This was a fascinating addition to my audio library and so engaging I never missed a beat though driving for hours at a time on a long commute.

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esto le resultó útil a 17 personas

Great book, depressing tale

Revisado: 05-03-08

THis book is well constructed, it is suspenseful and gives enough personal insight in addition to the bare bones of legal issues needed to understand the major areas of dispute in US supreme court rulings over the last fifty years.

THe narrator is strong, the writing draws you in, but ultimately the status of the court is both depressing and disheartening. I saw Justice Scalia swagger across the screen on SIXTY MINUTES last week and almost wept at his arrogant unwillingness to admit he is a political hack with no shame or sense of honor.Leslie Stahl licked his feet. I felt lost in a circus tent. I was glad I had read the book so I could put Scalia's lies into context but I certainly don't feel more hopeful that things will change.

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Great Book, Great Narrator

Revisado: 04-16-08

I really wanted to hear this book after I read some great reviews about it in the press. However, I was surprised at how quickly it became available on Audible and how TRULY EXCELLENT was the reader--I never heard him narrate a book before but this was exceptionally well narrated.

THe book is a very intelligent analysis of the five films nominated for Best Picture in 1967 and how the turning points of the movie business and America culturally were reflected in the styles, themes, and even operating processes of these films which so well outlined the lines of cultural battles of those times.

The author does a great job of analyzing cultural history without any sort of stodginess or over-intellectualizing. He creates suspense even for events and films I remember as if I'd seen them yesterday for the first time.

THis was maybe the most interesting non-fiction audiobook I've heard in months--really left me wishing the author had another book I could start right away. I also hope the narrator does other books soon because he's really a fine, fine reader.

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esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

Long anticipated great pleasure, superb reader

Revisado: 04-01-08

As with all the other Barsetshire novels, Simon Vance made these stories passionate, suspenseful and more delicious than any group of novels I have read in years. I am now a really big SImon Vance fan and I am waiting for him to read Trollope's Palliser novels next! If you have any affection for mid-Victorian literature you are missing a treat if you don't hear Simon Vance's Barsetshire Chronicles.

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esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

well-read interesting book

Revisado: 04-01-08

I very much enjoyed Buford's book and the reading was pleasant and easy to follow. I was a little puzzled at how much the book focused on Mario Batali, but I enjoyed hearing about his restaurants, his management style, and the insights into other famous chefs cooking elsewhere in the world today. Back when I started travelling, everyone ate at fairly traditional restaurants with steaks and chicken and pretty blah side dishes. Now it's a global adventure and we can eat the excellent meals to which my generation was woken up by visits to Italy, France and THailand and even countries like the UK (which was world reknowned for having the worst food in the civilized world) have sophisticated cuisines well worth trying. We even great great food in the US with origins in many different countries--thanks to all these foodies who travel and bring back great ideas and great skills.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Excellent Book Read by Great Narrator!

Revisado: 04-01-08

This would be a great book under any circumstances but the reader really brought out both the drama of the story and the sense of place the story deserved. Great accents, great pacing--truly one of my audible favorites and highly recommended to anyone who loves New York.

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WONDERFUL READER!

Revisado: 09-15-07

I had always intended to read Trollope and never quite made the time. Listening to this engaging narration by Simon Vance made such a pleasure possible while driving to work. Although one must have a taste for much more intricate prose than is characteristic of today's fiction, Vance's interpretation makes all the different characters recognizable and brings out the humor and minute social observation that keeps Trollope's intrigues of small town and ecclesiastical life in England mid-19th Century so enjoyable even today.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Delightful Reading of Trollope

Revisado: 09-15-07

I had always intended to read Trollope and never quite made the time. Listening to this engaging narration by Simon Vance made such a pleasure possible while driving to work. Although one must have a taste for much more intricate prose than is characteristic of today's fiction, Vance's interpretation makes all the different characters recognizable and brings out the humor and minute social observation that keeps Trollope's intrigues of small town and ecclesiastical life in England mid-19th Century so enjoyable even today.

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esto le resultó útil a 55 personas

Great narrator, weak Austen

Revisado: 10-01-06

Juliet Stevenson is a wonderful narrator and does a great job reading what is unfortunately not the best of Jane Austen's books. Although the story is pleasant enough, it isn't up to Pride and Prejudice, or Sense and Sensibility, Emma or Mansfield Park. The story lacks complexity, the characters are merely sketched, and it just doesn't hold your interest like the other Austen works. The narration, however, is terrific.

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esto le resultó útil a 23 personas