M. Graham

Narrator Mispronunciations Ruin Story

Revisado: 07-17-24

I thought narrators had gotten a little better in the past couple of years, but once again someone is reading who needed a pronunciation guide. Mispronouncing so many names catapults an interested and somewhat informed reader right out of the story.

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Narrator Distracted from the Story

Revisado: 01-29-24

One day, audio narrators' performances may be competently edited, but until then we are stuck with voices that mispronounce so many common names that the listener can be pulled right out of the narrative into frustration. I feel sorry for authors who have much of their work mangled by unsupervised narrators.

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Great book, grating narrator

Revisado: 10-29-23

I'm sticking with the book because the content is so good. The narrator's voice is unnecessarily high-pitched and incredibly nasal. This is more pronounced in quotations, which, inexplicably, are all the same vocally. I wish Audible narrators would stop dramatically changing voices for quotations. Sometimes a little change enhances the sense of the original speaker's voice, but usually it's distracting and often offensive (especially when men raise their voices when reading quotations from women).
Otherwise, excellent book.

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Entertaining, But Can Narrators Start to Improve?

Revisado: 04-15-23

Some interesting and well-researched topics here. Just wish the narrator 1) had been provided with a guide for pronunciation of numerous names and 2) had made his voice breathy and soprano-ish every time he read females' quotes. Unbelievable that narrators are STILL doing this!!

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Good information, needs different narrator

Revisado: 05-05-22

I loved learning about some of this history.

I am surprised, however, that the narrator is the author. The mispronunciation of words (mostly proper names) is astounding. By the last hour, the proliferation of mispronunciations led me to think the narration must be an in- joke. Can whoever produces audiobooks for this company please do an audio version of copy editing?

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Great Story, Somewhat Aggravating Narrator

Revisado: 01-28-18

Wonderful details and story, worthy of the terrific subject.

At first, the narrator seemed perfect for the text, capturing something of Joni's speaking style and being cooly listenable. As the performance went on, however, her gravelly vocal fry became monotonous and irritating, and eventually it seemed affected. I don't know why the same delivery style was used for every character and situation, but it wore thin quickly.

I'll give the narrator kudos, though, for not mispronouncing names or words--a first in my experience with audiobooks. (If she did mispronounce a word, it didn't stay in my memory, so egregious are most narrators' mispronunciations.)

Overall, this is a very well researched and extremely interesting book about a fascinating person.

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Sloppy Narrator Interferes with Excellent Story

Revisado: 04-13-17

I think the book is in the top tier of popular music biographies--well written, great details, impressive research.

The problem with the audio version is the narrator's use of upspeak in the MIDDLE of sentences, an annoying and unprofessional tic that accelerates as the book progresses. The cloying Valley Girl habit of stating declarative sentences as questions here becomes the more recent affectation of intra-sentence questions, as if the narrator is begging the listener to ok each detail of a sentence (as in "On that day? Leonard walked to the studio? Sat down? And started to play."). Can you imagine Cohen (or the author, for that matter) talking this way? It's a depressing and lazy American habit that is robbing oral communication of its potential power to move the reader.

I'm astounded that so many narrators of books seem to have had no performance training. As a listener now for four years, I've found British narrators to be far more professional, appropriately dramatic, and understandable than most American narrators.

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Warts and Flaws of Simon but Talent Shines Through

Revisado: 03-14-17

I listened to the whole book, which hasn't happened with most audiobooks.

Informative, with details I hadn't come across before.

Engaging and almost always interesting.

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Surprisingly engaging and interesting

Revisado: 03-14-17

Have you listened to any of MacLeod Andrews’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Haven't heard the narrator before, but I liked his performance a great deal. He sounds somewhat like the author, and does some good approximations of others' voices (with the exception of George Harrison's, but Liverpudlian is difficult for North Americans).

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Engaging at first, then unintentionally parodic

Revisado: 01-04-17

Would you try another book from Carole Bayer Sager and/or Carole Bayer Sager?

Doubt it.

Has They're Playing Our Song turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not at all.

What three words best describe Carole Bayer Sager’s voice?

Nasal, grating--for real or camped up?

Did They're Playing Our Song inspire you to do anything?

Lower my voice.

Any additional comments?

Found her narration charming at first, and then couldn't take it after a couple of hours. The entitled self-absorption of her quest for male approval stopped being endearing after the breakup with Burt, and just got embarrassing and boring. Odd that after such a long career in music, her speaking voice is so awful. I have to wonder if she was camping it up, over-emphasizing the stereotypical New York squawk. If so, she was ill-advised.Wish she could have maintained the energy and humor of the first part of the story all the way through.

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