lesley

get this wonderful book in print. Stephen Hoye reads every sentence, every paragraph, every page in the same tone of voice with an identical, monotonous rhythm. Doesn't matter if he's reading about a Nazi atrocity or a beautiful day in the country...same inflection.

Yes...but you will also want the print version to underline and note beautiful phrases and passages..

Her openness to life and what she calls, "the trampoline of love"

Impossible to choose...many ties for first place.

I heartily recommend this book. At first, I was distracted by O'Brien's noisy S's, but that would be a silly reason not to dive into this book. She's a wonderful reader/storyteller. Her love of place (and not just Ireland) and her love for people both draw out her powerful gifts of description. Although there are many stories including famous people, I did not pick up any sense that O'Brien considers herself superior. In fact, some of the small cameos of nameless people are the most wonderful, like the night watchman in an Irish castle who passes the time by reciting classical soliloquies. You will catch yourself cringing, thinking, "Don't do it!" as the author makes mistakes that seem predictable, but she conveys the fog of love so well, you realize we've all made mistakes like this.

If it were 75% shorter, if the author didn't belabor his points, and if he hadn't name-dropped throughout the book (by all means,share the pithy or wise remark made by a famous person but in the spirit of St. Francis' humility, leave out the irrelevant detail that the remark was made to you in person). Author comes across as having Workshop Presenter Personality Disorder, a narcissism that leads him to believe that every random, banal thought he has is original (this book has no originality) and profound. Save your book credit and pass this one by.

Biography Of Edward Curtis

It was adequate but had a stagey kind of false intimacy.

Annoyance. I was looking forward to some fresh ideas about the second half of life. Nothing profound here. Could have used a good editor.

No

Gets off to a slightly slow start, but keep listening! The story is a tightly woven mystery with vivid characters (could do without the mother) and the ending is outstanding. Better writing than usual in a mystery novel...especially the ending.

A three-dimensional portrait of this unusual woman. A tip: through either a production error or a hyper-caffeinated narrator, the reading of this book is much too fast...and I found it annoying. If you listen on your ipod, I suggest going to Settings and changing the speed to Slower. There's a bit of an echo but for me it was less irritating than the ridiculous speed of the reading on 'normal'.

After reading so many glowing reviews of this book in print, I took a shot...and was well-rewarded. I had no idea Bronson Pinchot was such a terrific narrator. His abilities as an actor are put to full use in the various voices and accents required. The writing is terribly funny in most places, and moving and poignant in others; Pinchot's voice is perfectly expressive regardless of the scene being read. I find myself bugging my friends to try this book, but particularly in audio. P.S. The George Plimpton impersonations alone are worth the price of the book.

whew...i listened for hours and hours and finally give up in the last ninety minutes. a long run for what was becoming a short jump. treat williams reads every sentence with the same "melody", very sing-song. basically, the book should have been half as long...and i don't know if it would have been worth it even then.

I didn't think an audiobook could be more interesting and gripping than Tattoo (although the first half hour was a little slow because it was introducing three different characters and branches of the story). The marvelous actor/narrator is back and his use of different pitches and accents helps keep the various characters identifiable in dialogue. This is one of the best audiobooks I have ever listened to. So sorry there is apparently only one more in the hopper by this gifted, late author.

Far, far better than the original version, both in text and narration. Hard to imagine anyone not enjoying this book, and I'm not a lover of Hemingway's fiction.