Krandall/Shivaji

It's the Audio Equivalent of a Page Turner (but)

Reviewed: 11-07-23

I kept coming back for more and greatly enjoyed the story. I very deeply appreciated Colton's courage to share all that he did. This memoir can not only be called the audio equivalent of a page-turner, but also a kind of Hero's Journey.

I feel obliged in fairness to add that I believe Mr Haynes could have benefited from a stronger editor, at least from one who would have helped him write a stronger ending. The ending of the book feels forced, like no one knew how to end a story about a person who is still very much alive and will most probably continue to be for many more years. Which is why most people don't write memoirs until they have lived a couple minutes. But many of the situations in Mr. Haynes' life are topically relevant and it would be a big mistake not to capitalize on that fact.

I am not saying it's a bad or unworthy memoir, just one that gets lost in the end and doesn't know what to do about it, so he/they just stop writing. I would never attempt to be in a film without a director. It seems that Mr Haynes' "people" let him down this time by not calling in someone who was a professional writer to help this accomplished entertainer navigate his maiden voyage on the sea of the Written Word. Like acting, writing isn't as easy as it looks.

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Hmmm

Reviewed: 10-27-22

I like Wolff's long fiction but I'm just discovering his short work. Not sure about it yet.

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Let It Percolate

Reviewed: 08-15-22

Sometimes I need to sit with a work of art before I can speak about it. This is such a time.

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If Only . . .

Reviewed: 11-14-20

. . . all of the conservatives in this country were as introspective and intelligent and possessed the intellectual curiosity of David Brooks, I honestly believe that people in this country would get along much better. The same is true of course, of the country’s liberals as well.
I’m always impressed and grateful for Brooks’ compassion and fairness and each time I encounter him I wonder, as he must, where all the true Republicans have gone.

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2 people found this helpful

Like Death and Taxes . . .

Reviewed: 05-22-20

. . . David Sedaris can be relied upon. Unlike the former, he will make you laugh out loud. He writes down most of the things I think. If I had not devoted myself to a different genre I would try to write the way he writes. Then we could be faux adversaries in public and buddies in private. This piece is one of his funniest ever. It has the quality and tone of his Barrel Fever collection. Anyone and everyone will love it. He is a National Treasure.

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OMG!

Reviewed: 02-07-20

I'd never heard of John Boyne, or thought I hadn't, not having paid attention to who wrote The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas. Then a friend sent me this audible book and I listened to it and then listened to it again with a friend and now I own every John Boyne book written, including his book of short stories that is almost impossible to find. EVERY ONE OF THEM represents some of the best writing of the 20th/21st century. Boyne is a genius, comic and poignant. I am a published writer as well, but when I reincarnate I'm going to come back as a writer as polished and talented as Mr. Boyne. Whoever you are--especially if you are a Catholic, lapsed or not, Irish, lapsed or not--buy this audible book now. The narrator, Stephen Hogan makes it come alive better than anything I've heard since Noah Trevor's Born A Crime, and actually it's every bit as entertaining and more.

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LIKE A TALK WITH A FRIEND

Reviewed: 06-14-19

Reading this book is like sitting down for a conversation with a friend and coming to realize that she is not just a friend but a personal hero as well. This woman wats prepared and wanting to life an ordinary life just raising her family, but ended up in The White House. In either place she would have been the same person: a virtuous, yet very human, woman whom I would want to call my friend.

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Comic Genius

Reviewed: 12-27-16

Once again in this new edition Sedaris shows his creative ingenuity and why he is one of our favorite, best selling authors. The story comparing cultural Santas is sheer comic genius and side-splittingly hilarious. Just buy it.

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1 person found this helpful

More, please, but hold the asparagus.

Reviewed: 10-31-16

We listened to this marvelous book together every day. It is riveting, not only because of its subject but because it is so well written and so well narrated. We did laugh at some of the "researcher's" compulsion to include more than necessary. At one point we are told of a get together with friends and the author for some reason felt it necessary to describe the black asparagus that was served. Overall an excellent read.

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2 people found this helpful

Perfectement

Reviewed: 10-06-16

As always: genius. The way he makes comedy lead to poignancy is brilliant and, for me as a writer, humbling.

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