Baa Baa Black Sheep

The True Story of the "Bad Boy" Hero of the Pacific Theatre and His Famous Black Sheep Squadron

By: Gregory "Pappy" Boyington

Narrated by: Eric Martin

Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's Summary

Here, in his own words, is the true story of America's wildest flying hero, of his extraordinary heroism, and of his greatest battle of all-the fight to survive.  

The World War II air war in the Pacific needed tough men like Colonel Pappy Boyington and his Black Sheep Squadron. The legendary Marine Corps officer and his bunch of misfits, outcasts, and daredevils gave a new definition to "hell-raising" - on the ground and in the skies.  

Pappy himself was a living legend-he personally shot down 28 Japanese planes, and won the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. He broke every rule in the book doing so, but when he fell into the hands of the vengeful Japanese his real ordeal began.

©1958 Col. Gregory Boyington (P)2019 Tantor

Who picked the narrator?

I’ve read/heard books narrated by Eric Martin before, but none happily. That being said, I can’t imagine a more incongruous pairing than Eric Marin and Pappy Boyington. Martin is full of affectation, and, seemingly, himself. The opposite of a hard-drinking, hell-raising Marine fighter ace. As much as I wanted to reD the book, if I’d noticed it was Martin, I might’ve waited until summer and read a hard copy version. 

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Interesting story but it was poorly written. Most disappointing though was the narration which bordered on annoying.

Annoying

It’s like having Forest Gump reading to you! The narrator emphasizes the last word or syllable of almost every sentence. Just think of Gump saying “ JennAY.”

Story was developing fine but...

It seems like the story was developing fine but, the narrator's voice does not work with this subject. I'm not sure why but, I could not finish. Hope it works better for you.

Great memoir read by Sheldon from Big Bang Theory

Gripping wartime accounts, brutal honesty, fascinating psychological journey... just a first rate memoir. Get the hardcopy, because the unfortunate narration is antithetical to the tone of the text.

great story - poor narration.

The narrators performance/style does not match the context of book and was off-putting and awkward

Very Good Memoir

I really enjoyed this book. It is very well written and tells the story of a most interesting life. Boyington is best known for his exploits as a Marine fighter pilot. He is less well known as a member of the Fighting Tigers ("American Volunteer Group") and as a Japanese prisoner of war. The book tells the full story, along with his tribulations as a civilian.

Boyington is very introspective in the book. He takes a stark look at himself, including his struggles with alcohol. He is surprisingly generous in his view of the Japanese people, a view not shared by many veterans of the Pacific Theater. This book was written in 1957. It allows Boyington time for perspective--and also shows he was not trying to capitalize on his immediate post-war fame. It also details his considerable struggles in civilian life. It is a complicated portrait of a complicated man, a man with virtues as well as many flaws.

The narration is a bit of another story. Martin sounds to me like a guy trying to imitate Rod Serling. At first, I found the narration irritating, and might have given up but for the compelling story. As the book went on, I found the narration more tolerable, but I won't be searching for other books narrated by him. Listen to the sample and be sure you are prepared for nearly 14 hours of this.

Narrator not suited to the material

I was really looking forward to listening on a road trip but the narrators inflection and tone tended to be extremely irritating. I couldn’t listen to anymore after a hour

Amazing Book!

This is an amazing Book. So much history, insight and entertainment. I loved every word. My only complaint is the reader. He was such a bad choice for "Gramps". Not only a bad fit in tone but every line he read ended in a weird breathless way that was extremely annoying and far off the character of "Gramps" Boyington. Still a great audio book!!!!!

Narrator is horrible

The story is good but I could only listen to that narrator for 35 minutes before I shut it off. His bizarre attempts to enunciate every work is nasally and very annoying.Too bad.

A truly stunning piece of aviation history

This first hand account by a controversial in aviation history is brutal, tragic,reflective and honest.

Boyington despite his numerous self admitted faults, writes his underdog’s tale with aplomb.

His narrative is visceral and almost beautiful. He holds nothing back and this only serves to endear the reader to him beyond all expectation

A true classic.

Great story

The story of Pappy is incredible and worth the struggle to try and get over the narration that is breathy and over-pronounced.

Not the Hero you idolised but a honest account!

Great story from a world war two hero and his life ravaged by alcoholism.

ok ISH

This was more of a life story and it took 4 hours of listening to not much happen before the war arrived. more of a Bio really but ok. the narrator was a little irritating at times, but overall it wasn't a waste of money