New Reviews: Classics

George Washington Carver was one of the greatest scientists of his era, a period that included Einstein, Curie, and Pasteur. This audiobook revives a biography that was first published in the year of Carver's death, 1943. While it feels dated in some ways, it introduces a new generation to the life of a man who did much to shape our world and its agriculture. Karl T. Wright's... Read More

In a tone equal parts naïve and urbane, Matt Bomer brings an authentic and absolutely American middle-class voice to James Baldwin's 1956 bestseller. The story, controversial at the time, is about a white New Yorker living in Paris who has a fiery and ultimately tragic love affair with a young, gay Italian bartender while his fiancée is on holiday in Spain. In his fine... Read More

Crews's novel, published in 1988, is finally on audio, and it's worth the wait. Matt Godfrey's masterful storytelling brings it to life. Part of "Southern grit lit," the story focuses on Eugene Talmadge Biggs, a prizefighter who discovers that his most lucrative skill is his ability to knock himself unconscious. Biggs capitalizes on the public's thirst to see this talent,... Read More

This audiobook begins with a thoughtful foreword, written and narrated by Idra Novey, and a comprehensive introduction that provides essential historical and linguistic context, narrated by translator Gwendolyn Harper. Then, Vico Ortiz vividly narrates the selection of crónicas (short chronicles) written by Chilean queer activist and artist Pedro Lemebel. These essays are a... Read More

While most would not consider a Kafka work to be a pleasant listening experience, Pugh does a splendid job at narrating Kafka's account of the (mis)adventures of one Karl Rossman in a post-World War America. The plot is not as surreal as the author's METAMORPHOSIS or some of his fables such as "Before the Law," but it is nevertheless a somewhat surreal set of adventures,... Read More

Pater's essays on classical, late Medieval, and, primarily, Renaissance art and literature are written in high-flown style, intellectually and aesthetically impassioned, and Leighton Pugh delivers them at that elevated pitch. That can be wearying, and perhaps he should have sought a more varied tone, but it's easy to be caught up in his performance. His voice is a fine... Read More

The oral presentation of St. Thomas's complex series of logical arguments on religious premises requires clarity and accuracy, and Martyn Swain's admirable performance provides both. His voice is strong and a bit astringent but likable, and his pacing--another essential--is good, if at times somewhat quick for the more difficult material. Frequent minor hesitations, as if he is... Read More