Corey Lee Wagner

Horrible narration

Reviewed: 12-21-23

The cadence is very bad, and there are so many pauses in very strange places. Other than the narration, the book is great. 

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One of the more mediocre great courses

Reviewed: 03-09-23

Dated and short. The strange interview thrown into the middle was unexpected. To top it all off, the professor sounds like Owen Wilson.

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We’ll done

Reviewed: 03-02-23

I don’t leave many five star reviews, but the book was well written, well, narrated and quite thought-provoking.

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I don’t write many reviews

Reviewed: 02-19-23

I loved most of this Great Courses class, but the professors approach to the Armenian Genocide, is unacceptable. I am already familiar with the subject matter, so it doesn't upset me that much; but what of the people who listen to this coarse with no prior knowledge of the Armenian Genocide, they will come away thinking that Armenians are just looking for attention or grandstanding if they are upset about the genocide.
The professors apologism for the Turkish/Ottoman view is abhorrent. With ideas like; it's a war, people are killing other people, and the people in power didn't mean to do this, is sickening. When 80% of a people disappear within a year, at your direction, that is a genocide. You don't get to tell those people that it isn't.
When that chapter passed I calmed down, but then came the last lecture, the wrap-up. In the wrap up he says something to the effect of, Armenians of today should recognize just how good they had it under the sultan and get over it. Excuse me. What?
His take on the genocide nearly ruins the other 18 hours of content. It makes me question his take on the things that I am not already knowledgeable on. Now I have to seek other sources to verify the historical items from this coarse, because I can't trust what he has told me.

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Required

Reviewed: 02-13-23

I don’t want to write reviews, I just want to rate the books I listened to…………………………

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Too many anecdotes

Reviewed: 03-21-22

If a never ending series of personal anecdotes is how you like to receive your scientific information, then this course is for you.
Nearly every data point is immediately followed by, “in 1964 I took a road trip ……. therefore that shows that this is true”
Also, this was recorded in 2006, some of the data points mentioned have been refuted recently or proven wrong

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Horrible sound quality

Reviewed: 03-16-22

The narrator is great, the information is great, but it sounds like it was recorded on a handheld voice recorder

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Great info, but hard to listen to

Reviewed: 01-06-22

The information presented in this coarse is ok, but the presentation was a problem for me. Mr. Nowicki either mis-speaks or stumbles over words every minute to minute and a half, which I could probably handle in a 6 or 12 hour coarse, but this one is 36+ hours of constant stumbling and re stating.

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So condescending

Reviewed: 11-08-19

First off, the data and information in the book is great. Unfortunately, the author seems to think he is a white knight, about to head down from the mount and enlighten the ignorant masses. He even very nearly says as much in these same words in the prologue. It seems an editor or adviser may have mentioned that adding a "personal touch" to each chapter is what is needed, and these personal touches are what brings down an otherwise decent book.
In one chapter he mentions that he approaches a woman's sleeping baby and turns it over, without talking to her, because he is the one with "the knowledge" of how a baby should sleep. He insinuates that she nearly wept at his feet when she realized that she had been letting her baby sleep in a wrong position and could have died. Turns out that he realizes years later that he was wrong in his information.
This type of holier than thou attitude pervades this book.

As to the narration, I agree with some of the other reviewers, it seems he was trying out for a part in a high school play at times.

Overall, I just can't recommend this book. If you are looking for something on the same subject matter, try The Better Angels Of Our Nature by Steven Pinker.

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3 people found this helpful

Great information held back back frustrating audio

Reviewed: 07-02-19

I thoroughly enjoyed the information in this Great Coarse, but the narration drove me up the wall. With his credentials, I am sure that the narrator knows the information that he is presenting, but all 12 hours are filled with the strangest pauses. Pauses mid sentence, sometimes mid word. I don't know if it is from re-recording being pasted into the audio or not, but it almost sounded like someone that has no experience in the field, reading from a book to me. It's almost as if the reader pauses to get to the next line of text and find their place. "And they showed great kind ... ... ... ness." Once I heard the first one, I couldn't help but hear it every 30 or so seconds through the entire audiobook.

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