Jonathan Biss is known as one of the world's foremost expert on Beethoven—his audio memoir on the subject, Unquiet, is one of the most haunting and beautiful studies of obsession we've ever encountered. But as it turns out, Biss has an expert command of audiobooks as well, because the listens in his library are nothing short of masterpieces. From Toni Morrison to David Foster Wallace and the exquisite sounds of Stephen Fry performing A.A. Milne, Biss's playlist is a little slice of heaven for the ears.
''Dazzling yet deep, this novel is about many things at once: fascism and families, magic and Jewish history, the American psyche in all its peculiarity. At first, it is Chabon’s linguistic virtuosity that enthralls you, but it is the characters he creates and the lives they live that stay with you long after you’ve finished listening.''
''One of the few books that has fundamentally changed my view of our society. It is enraging and important, a document of how unequally justice is doled out in the United States. And yet, it is also a hopeful book, offering a model for how we can be more empathetic, as individuals and as a country.''
''How is it possible that Wallace has been gone for 12 years? Each time I return to this beautiful collection of essays, I miss him anew. His observations are sharp and humane, and no subject is too big or too small to command his eagle-eyed attention.''
''This book was my introduction both to Morrison and to some of the most insidious aspects of racism. Her language is searing in a near-literal sense: I feel there ought to be burn marks on my body left by some of this devastating book’s most wrenching sentences.''
''These are the first books I loved, and I love them no less now than I did three and a half decades ago; they are totally pure and uproariously funny. An embarrassment-of-riches voice cast, led by Stephen Fry and Judi Dench, only makes the experience more delightful.''
