PATRIOT A Memoir

Matthew Goode's amiable narration sets the right tone for this memoir by the late Russian anti-corruption activist. With Alexei Navalny's ghost hovering over the recording studio, Goode does an outstanding job of channeling the activist's humanity and warmth. Avoiding sanctimony, he dryly delivers Navalny's gallows humor--of which there is plenty. Amid the terror and confusion of Novichok poisoning aboard a plane out of Siberia, Navalny notes that it rendered him unable to watch his favorite Rick and Morty episode--the one in which Rick turns into a pickle. Navalny even imagines the effect his poisoning and "tragic demise" in prison will have on book sales. Instead of a diatribe or manifesto, PATRIOT offers an engaging glimpse of an activist's mindset. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2024]