BBBman

Too good

Revisado: 11-04-23

I just finished re-listening to Beautiful Ruins, after first listening to it shortly after it came out. Almost 10 years farther into life now, I’m struck by the depth of all the many characters’ development and how well written it all is. The conclusion leaves me both gratified, but also somewhat longing to stay living in this world, the way a good story should. Being an Audible listener well over a decade now, this was and is again one of my most satisfying experiences with a narrated story. An homage to the messiness, ugliness, love, and beauty that is all at once the human experience.

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Trevor’s a boss

Revisado: 10-04-23

What a life. What a story. I knew he had some hardships in his past, but dang.
The story is told so well, and I love that he read it himself. It’s always less compelling when autobiographies are not read by the author. Trevor did such a great job, as of course he would.

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Easily one of my favorite listens to date

Revisado: 08-12-12

This book caught me totally off guard. I'd consider myself a casual fan of Rob Lowe's work - not in love with everything he has done, but appreciative of a lot of his roles, especially as he branched out later, from Austin Powers to the West Wing. It was reading an excerpt of his book in Esquire magazine that made me instantly grab my iPhone and download the audio book for a long drive home I was about to make. My wife and I were completely engrossed as we listened in the car, then I finished the book at every chance I could get. His storytelling, both written and spoken is of the highest level. His vivid description of the grueling try-outs for The Outsiders had me sweating bullets with him. Even if you're not a "fan" or think you're not interested in Rob Lowe's story, consider giving this book a try. Aside from his unlikely and interesting path in life, Rob's story offers a fascinating look into the business of film and TV, and what it takes to make it (personally and professionally) for the long haul. When it was done, I felt like I was saying goodbye to an old friend. Here's to your next chapter Rob! Great work! I wish you'd narrate more audio books for us. I can listen to you all day!

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Some decent tidbits, annoying narration

Revisado: 08-12-12

A good portion of what's covered in this book seems pretty obvious, and I didn't learn quite as much as I had hoped that seemed like big secrets of the trade. There are some good pointers for spotting the "tells" of someone who is trying to be deceptive or hide something. While the content is somewhat interesting, I had a pretty tough time listening through the whole thing because of the rather robotic and choppy narration. It's full of unnatural, awkward pauses in the narrative rhythm that really got to me after a while. Who talks like this? It was like he had a script that often had three or four words per line, and he had to pause to go to the next line no matter where he was in the sentence. Also if there was a star rating for audio fidelity, (I'm downloading "Enhanced" files) I'd give it one or two stars. It sounded very boxy and dry. Listen to the audio quality of The Little Book of Economics (both narration & fidelity are quite good) then listen to this sample, and you'll hear what I'm talking about.

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Read like he wrote it

Revisado: 08-12-12

I got exactly what I was hoping for out of this book: a well rounded, non-partisan summary of the various engines, institutions and policies that drive our economy. It's not too long, but moves at a pretty good pace, so at times I found myself repeating sections or whole chapters to help it soak in better. Expected considering the topic.

I need to give huge props to the narrator for reading through this material in a natural and convincing way. This is one of the best examples of a narration that's so natural, I would believe it if I was told he was the author. Sean Pratt takes some potentially dry content by its nature and reads it like he's chatting with you in your living room over coffee. A lot of non-fiction audio books can come across rather dry and stilted, unnatural, or just downright bad. I thought the narration in this case was top notch. A pleasant listen, which is no easy feat for this kind of content.

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