The Reader's Shelf: The Seductive Pleasures of Audio Memoirs, March 1, 2011
Mar 1, 2011The Seductive Pleasures of Audio Memoirs
Memoirs offer readers rich evocations of time and place, personal memories made universal, and the pleasures of eavesdropping on another’s life. When memoirs are translated into audiobooks, those pleasures double as the voice of the author is inhabited by a narrator whose job it is to find that story’s soul. Be the narrator an old pro or the author herself, listening to such personal tales becomes an intimate and layered experience. Among these six choices, listeners will find the warm, honey-laden voice of Rick Bragg, Grover Gardner channeling Mark Twain, and many other delights. [For more, see Roslind Reisner’s collection development article, “Listen to My Life’s Story,” LJ 10/1/10.—Ed.]
Grover Gardner’s reading of Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1 (20 CDs. library ed. unabridged. Blackstone Audio. 2010. ISBN 9781441778420. $140; 20 CDs. retail ed.; 2 MP3-CD. library ed.; Playaway digital) is an event—sharp, rich, and with a clear articulation that conjures up what one imagines Twain must have sounded like on his tours. Twain’s book is a meandering mix of stories, sketches, memories, profiles of the famous and not so famous, and plenty of opinions. Gardner tackles the disorder with a masterful control of the pacing, keeping listeners connected to the story and on an even path through the entire experience.
In I’m Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted (8 CDs. library ed. unabridged. Tantor Audio. 2008. ISBN 9781400135967. $69.99; 8 CDs. retail ed.; 1 MP3-CD; digital download), Jennifer Finney Boylan recounts her childhood in a haunted house and her struggles with gender—she was then James Boylan. After a 2006 sex change, Jennifer ventures back to her old home with a team of ghost hunters. This coming-of-age tale gently, and with great humor, prods at questions of identity and what it means to be home. Boylan reads her work with great charm, catching her comedic rhythms just right, shifting into some great voices, and carrying the narration with a gently ironic lilt.
Edward Conlon’s Blue Blood (23 CDs. library ed. unabridged. Recorded Bks. 2004. ISBN 9781419302909. $123.75), which recounts his life as a New York City cop, is brilliantly written, with a narrative that pulls readers into his story of family, the vast complications of police work and politics, the almost unspeakable aftermath of 9/11, and the daily grind of protecting a city. Tom Stechschulte reads Conlon’s memoir with great skill, re-creating the many voices that populate the streets of the city and capturing Conlon’s own voice. Skillfully managing the book’s varying pulses, Stechschulte alternates between a fast rhythm that ensnares listeners in the author’s gritty tales and a calmer mode that eases them into more reflective segments, while narrating with sharp attention to Conlon’s rich prose.
In The Prince of Frogtown (7 CDs. library ed. unabridged. Books on Tape. 2008. ISBN 9781415953990. $80), Rick Bragg revisits the father he so brutally described in his earlier memoirs. Through alternating chapters, he also sketches the life of his stepson, living in a very different South. Bragg’s gift has always been the ability to create character and place, and this work of Southern reflection is no different. Charles Bragg becomes more dimensional, and while never sympathetic, he will be seen by readers as a man sunk under the few options he had. Bragg’s treatment of his stepson is somewhat conflicted as he contrasts his own childhood with suburban life today. While Bragg is always worth reading, his own audio narration is magical. His voice is honey over smoke, richly tonal and twangy, and so inviting that listeners are swept away.
A richly rewarding and funny read, Patricia Volk’s Stuffed(7 CDs. library ed. unabridged. Blackstone Audio. 2003. ISBN 9780786193288. $56; 7 CDs. retail ed. 1 MP3-CD library ed.) is full of sketches of her gifted, zany, and brilliant family, accompanied by lushly evocative descriptions of her home, New York City, and food. Stories include how her Aunt Lil became a bride after 11 years (note: when in doubt just send out invitations), how her grandfather invented the wrecking ball, and how her family eventually came to own over a dozen restaurants in the city. Barbara Rosenblat sings Volk’s story to life with wonderfully created voices, a pace that allows listeners to savor every word, and such deeply held respect for the work that Rosenblat seems to be one of the family.
In sharply honed prose, Edwidge Danticat tells her immigration story, centered on her father, André, and uncle, Joseph, but ranging into the history of Haiti’s Duvalier regime, U.S. immigration policies, the bonds of family, and the effects of a national diaspora. Brother, I’m Dying (7 CDs. library ed. unabridged. Recorded Bks. 2007. ISBN 9781428166318. $77.75; Playaway digital) is never overly sentimental, but it is deeply emotional, with lines and images that leave the reader hollow one moment and yearning the next. Read by Robin Miles with wonderfully textured accents, Danticat’s memoir becomes even more stirring as Miles manages the tempo and emotional tone in such a way that listeners are transported via rhythmic patterns and masterfully restrained narration.
| Author Information |
| Neal Wyatt compiles LJ’s online feature Wyatt’s World and is the author of The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Nonfiction (ALA Editions, 2007). She is a collection development and readers’ advisory librarian from Virginia. Those interested in contributing to The Reader’s Shelf should contact her directly at Readers_Shelf@comcast.net |
