Little Visits to the Homes of the Great, Memorial Edition

By: Elbert Hubbard

Narrated by: John Michaels

Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Among the most complex individuals to emerge from the 19th century, Elbert Hubbard was a philosopher, businessman, entrepreneur, writer, genius, founder of Roycroft, and author of A Message to Garcia. He also published a series of short stories: Little Journeys. This book, Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Memorial Edition, takes us to 14 homes of the great, including those of Dickens, Shakespere, Victor Hugo, and Thomas Edison.

From the Introduction: "Elbert Hubbard is dead, or should we say, has gone on his last Little Journey to the Great Beyond. But the Children of his fertile brain still live and will continue to live and keep fresh the memory of their illustrious forebear. Fourteen years were consumed in the preperation of the work that ranks today as Elbert Hubbard's masterpiece. In 1894, the series of Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great was begun, and once a month for 14 years, without a break, one of these little pilgrimages was given to the world. These little gems have been accepted as classics and will live. In all there are 180 Little Journeys that take us to the of the men and women who transformed the thought of their time, changed the course of empire, and marked the destiny of civilization. Through him, the ideas, the deeds, the achievements of these immortals have been given to the living present and will be sent echoing down the centuries."

Public Domain (P)2010 Audio Books by Mike Vendetti

Distracting and Awkward Reading

I was able to get about 90 minutes into this book before I had to stop. Unlike other audio books I've listened to (Audible's Under the Banner of Heaven was wonderful), the narration is disjointed, pausing at seemingly random moments. The reader inserts commas into sentences at nonsensical points, and emphasizes words and syllables in a disjointed way. He reads as if he doesn't understand the English language well, though I'm sure he does.

Perhaps this is the narrator's way of trying to make things interesting, but it was so distracting that I'll need to read this one rather than listen to it. I decided to read this book at Conrad Hilton's recommendation in his autobiography "Be My Guest," and I don't want to miss it.