June 2011
AUDIO BOOK REVIEWS
by Jonathan Lowe
SEAL
TEAM SIX
is a rare behind-the-scenes account of how the SEALS operate.
Howard Wasdin takes the listener on a roller coaster ride
through selection, training, and deployment. Narrator Ray
Porter relates this engrossing account with such a natural
tone you'd believe he was a SEAL. Teams like this should have
been better used in Iraq, and will certainly be used more
in the future by a nearly bankrupted Pentagon. |
Next, forget Charlie Sheen, try an older celeb who has learned
from his mistakes instead of repeating them. The new biography
of ROBERT
REDFORD by Michael Feeney Callan is read by Mark
Deakins on audio, and details the life of an iconoclast who
became an icon. Remembering his mother's influence, Redford
sought out activism as a means to protect the environment.
But there is much more here about how Hollywood and Broadway
actually works, with insights into how directors think, and
the methods actors use to arrive at truth. Redford, even with
his looks, struggled to find his way, and took risks in both
his life choices and within roles on stage. The money and
fame were secondary influences to finding what was right for
him, although today, on the surface, actors seem to sell themselves
to the highest bidder, and don't really know who they are
(or why). As such, this is a fascinating and revelatory biography,
one of the best I've heard in years, and told by a narrator
who sounds like Redford (which would have been the case had
this been an autobiography). It's a book about a man who thinks
for himself, has the independent vision which created Sundance,
and figured out a way to be meaningful and entertaining in
the process. |
In our gadget-obsessed electronic culture many people have
lost a connection to nature, developing what Richard Louv
and James Cameron call "nature deficit disorder."
The cure is "Vitamin N" or time in the woods, on
the ocean, and playing in the sand. Studies have shown that
expanding our technological community to include the natural
world enhances the function of our brains in creativity--not
just as children, but as adults. THE
NATURE PRINCIPLE is an insightful audiobook,
narrated by Rick Adamson, which shows how a reconnection to
nature can restore balance to the environment while strengthening
our own health and happiness. |
Finally, as host of NBC's Today and the CBS Evening News,
Couric has met many famous and successful people. So it's
natural that on another major fork in her career she'd write
THE
BEST ADVICE I EVER GOT, which incorporates her
acquaintance with these celebrities. The range is broad, from
Bill Cosby to Steven Spielberg to Malcolm Gladwell to the
chairman of the Nielsen company. Some of the advice is simplistic,
some profound, but it's always interesting to hear what affected
a change or direction in people's lives, whether we admire
a particular celebrity or not. Proceeds go to education charities.
Multiple narrators are involved. |
My
article on robotics and speech was just published by Cosmos
magazine. One question I asked the scientists,
which didn't make the article, was: "Are American Idol
contestants or audiobook narrators in danger of losing their
jobs, once robots are able to match the human voice in emotional
range as well as vocal expression?" Robots, after all,
are now being built with human-like voice boxes, lungs,
throats, mouths, and tongues. The answer: "That will
not happen until a sentient robot is able to match the human
brain's capacity to think beyond mimicry. The date for this
is 2045 at earliest, but more likely 2145." So all
you narrators out there can breath a sigh of relief. For
now. (Once a robot is able to breath a "sigh of relief,"
you're in trouble!)
Post Footnote: Am moving to cover more non-fiction,
but for my interviews with major fiction authors, download
a PDF of them here: http://sites.google.com/site/audiobookreviewer/ |
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