Andrew

Hysterically funny and for the most part extremely well narrated. The narrator does a stupendous job with very well-acted dialog between Jeeves and Wooster. My only criticism would be his failed attempt at voicing an American female -comes off more campy drag queen than belle of the ball. Other than that, an absolute scream and thoroughly enjoyable listen.

This is definitely one of those books that is better listened to than read, and I agree with the previous reviews that the narrator is to be commended for his ability to pronounce obsolete words and arcane dialects. (Although I must admit that his attempts at an American accent made me cringe a bit.) My only other criticism is a tiny one: the author's claim that the Northeastern US more or less speaks a single, clear spoken dialect. As a native Bostonian, I must object! That aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It gave me a new understanding and appreciation of my language and enough trivia fodder to make me a cocktail party liability for quite some time.

I have to agree with other reviewers: this book is long, so very long and -I'll just come right out and say it -often pretty boring. Sure, there are plenty of interesting historical bits, but they are interspersed with repetitive descriptions of salt works and salt making techniques and the aforementioned interminable recipes for salted fish. It's an effect not unlike Bubba's enumeration of shrimp dishes in "Forrest Gump." When I saw that the same author has also written a book on cod, I thought, "Good god! What is it with this guy and fish?"