MyDogBen

Actor Jeff Gurner does a heroic job with atrocious material. If I could get this 7+ hours of my life back, I would.

Like many Audible listeners, I was looking to find the next "Dragon Tattoo" series. "Lost Causes" isn't it. The story has no redeeming value. Keep the Audible credit, I wish I could get my TIME back. Believe the many people before me who labeled this as bad. They are right.

Spoiler alert: this book is driven by extensive descriptions of torture. I'm appalled it was ever published. And I'm against censorship. I'm not against good taste.

Odd that Will Durant defends religion, even though he admits (paraphrasing here) that it is made up to give poor people hope. The book itself is spliced together with an extended interview with the authors. I found myself wishing the interviewer asked harder questions. But, it wasn't a debate. The book tends to repeat themes. It feels like an essay extended to book form. However, I am glad I heard it.

I came to this book with such high expectations. Isaacson is out of his depth with his subject matter. I can only recommend it with serious reservations.

I liked best the unintentional glimpses of SJ that leaked through the cracks in Isaacson's narrative plan: glimpses of home life, Job's manic schedule. And regarding Steve Jobs vs Cancer, I predict a Broadway play, probably a comedy, before too long. This particular health crisis was tailor-made for examination before an audience. With laughter, and tears.

Dylan Baker's delivery is not suited to the material. Every time I returned to the book I thought, is he really the ideal narrator for this? Would Apple have approved this choice? His repeated mispronunciation of

Blogger Jon Gruber makes some excellent, detailed critiques of Isaacson's work at the website 'Daring Fireball.' Anyone interested in an alternate analysis of Steve Job's career should go read Gruber on the subject.

What a pleasant surprise, to be reminded that a classic book is classic for a reason - it's good. Don't hesitate to jump in. It's long, but I didn't want it to end. The narrator's characterizations are wonderful. George Eliot had me laughing many, many times with droll wit and insight.

Also, Middlemarch delivers perhaps the most elegant final paragraph a novel could hope for. Wow.

A new fan to MLS Soccer/Football in the US, I wanted to learn about the history of the World Cup in time for this year's matches. However, "The History of the World Cup" is a only a relentless recitative roll-call, a tsunami of player's names, one after another, usually accompanied by an adjective. I forced myself to listen to the end. Perhaps for the veteran fan, revisiting countries and past contests will be rewarding because the reader's own memories may fill in the many, many gaps. New fans will be bored.