Jody R. Nathan

I have to admit that the Truman Capote story on Marlon Brando was a bit disappointing. But the rest, oh my! What a wonderful book of stories; it starts with Lillian Ross on Earnest Hemingway; then goes to Katherine White, one of the founding editors of the New Yorker; then goes on to profile boxers, "cool finders", a tightrope walker; Heloise (from Hints from Heloise); Edna Buchanan (Miami crime beat reporter); Isadora Duncan, and even a champion show dog. My two favorites were Mr. Hunter's Grave by Joseph Mitchell and A Pryor Love (about Richard Pryor) by Hilton Als. Mr. Hunter's Grave was not really about a person so much as about a small town on Staten Island; I know, I don't make it sound like much, but really, I hated to have it end. The story on Richard Pryor was insightful -- it showed the flaws in the man with such compassion and with enough understanding of Mr. Pryor's past to show how it all worked together first to make him into a celebrity, and then brought him down again.

The narration on all the stories is good, but it is the writing that really makes this book stand out. It is the sort of writing that transports you from where ever you are into the world being profiled. You come away wanting to know more about the people discussed, and feeling like you may have met some new friends. 10 hours is not enough for this book; I hope they will put out the unabridged edition. I will go back and listen to these stories again.

Kevin does a great job on telling some of his stories from his career. and it is really quite amazing how he has accomplished all that he has; from lip syncing to Bill Cosby to his Columbo impression, and off he goes. His stories are funny and sweet, and he only tells stories about those he really respects (mostly) and it shows. It was a wonderful book and I did not want to put it down -- and was sad to reach the end. If you enjoy celebrity name dropping books and stories about stars, you will enjoy this book.

Nice murder mystery, the end was quite satisfying. It is nice to read a book where the author actually writes an ending! Loved the narrator, did a great job (as far as I could tell) with the different Scottish accents.

The story was good,but come on! you hear what happens in excruciating detail, then the character tells someone what happened in almost as much detail, then guess what? it happens again. And all the gruesome details. . . . ick! I really wanted to like this book; but won't be back for any more! The narrator was good, tho.

First of all, the narrator sounded like he should be doing tv infomercials for reusable paper towels. Second, the story should be very interesting ( I am a history buff) but strangely it isn't. Perhaps it was the need to constantly refer to the painting at issue during (especially) the beginning of the book; the inability to see what the author was talking about. The first quarter of the book seemed to be a description of the artwork; the second quarter was a general history of the artwork up to the first world war, the third quarter was about the theft of the panels in the 30's and the last part was about its rescue from the Nazis in WWII.

Some of the symbols were discussed, but not the mystic symbolism, other than the obvious. Even the parts which could have been exciting and suspenseful were not written to keep one's interest.

I wanted to like it, and I did learn a bit but was irritated the whole time. Perhaps it was the narrator -- listen first and decide if you can listen to hours of the guy.

Well, this was a real bodice ripper! Some interesting characters are in this standard romance novel plot; and listening to Mr. Prebble read the steamy parts was great -- at least for the first three or four scenes. The "mystery" wasn't; and I ended up skipping just to make sure of the ending. But it was a fun romp.

Stories want to be told, and this is a good one -- twisted fairy tales intersperse the larger story of David and his trip into his own story. I found the narrator to be excellent; the story was suitable for both adults and young adults. This was such an enjoyable book, I could not put it down. If you like fairy tales with a twist of darkness, you will like this one.

I liked the narration; it was very good. the story revolves around two friends -- sort of a tough but not too bright guy and a bright but not too tough guy. It also revolves around the story of a crooner, who seemed strangely like an Italian crooner from Jersey -- ok, Frank Sinatra -- and his affair with a woman modeled after Ava Gardner. Oh, and there's the Bugsy Malone character who is off in Vegas building the "Sandpiper" hotel and casino. So, that was fun. But the parts involving the spy games during WWII not too compelling. But, in the end, I liked it -- it was nice ear candy to relax and hear about mob hits.

Michael Caine reflects on his beginnings and ends and much in the middle. He narrates the book himself and its like he's right there. As with many of these books, the only complaint I had was there were points in the story where he tried to acknowledge a list of friends but they did not detract from this wonderful life story.

I thought this was a wonderful book. Altman seems like a character in one of his movies. Ok, he is not a very attentive father and he has drinking problems, but he seems to have had a great time doing mostly just what he wanted. It was nice to hear the different opinions of him from the people he worked with and around. Narration is good, Not a good listen for children -- some strong language and some discussion of affairs. Now I will have to watch his movies again!

I enjoyed the book -- perhaps not my favorite in the series, but I very much enjoyed the story -- but the book had no ending. The devastating "betrayal" is mentioned but not revealed. And whats up with Constance? She came off like a Greek chorus. . .
Strangely, in this book the surreal scenes were more realistic to me than some of the more mundane scenes.

I always look forward to the books in this series. And I liked the story, but gave it 4 stars for lack of an ending. The narrator was excellent and the production quality was good.