D. Trull

Hotter than hell, and weirder than hell!

Revisado: 08-15-19

This is not a listen for all tastes, but for me it hit the spot. I’m interested in weird, extreme foods in general, and the sport of competitive eating in particular. I enjoy the “podcast meets investigative report” format for audiobooks, and the author/narrator beautifully applies it here, revealing unexpected threads of drama and pathos in a lighthearted subject matter. I also appreciated Marc Fennell’s unique mixed-culture perspective, tackling the differences between cultures where extra hot chilis are commonplace vs. those where they are a thrill-seeking novelty. And as a North Carolina native, I was unaware of the story behind the Carolina Reaper hot chili that seemed to come out of nowhere in recent years, and now I’ve learned all about the Reaper in exhaustive detail. All in all, one of my top favorite Audible Originals.

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Maester Simon Vance lectures on much and more

Revisado: 04-24-19

I love Game of Thrones on HBO but am not a fan of the books — GRRM’s prose style just doesn’t appeal to me. Ordinarily I would not have been interested in a long, academic volume on Targaryen history. But I bought this audiobook on the strength of Simon Vance, my top favorite narrator. And he does not disappoint. Vance matches the world of Westeros beautifully, adopting a gravelly tone that sounds a whole lot like the beloved Maester Luwin. He’s a pleasure to listen to over the course of 26 hours.

As it is to be expected, the ”story” content of the book is highly uneven. You get a nice sense of the sweep of the Targaryen conquest and their dynasty over a long stretch of time, but you can easily drown in the sea of details. It’s difficult to keep up with all the names and marriages and who’s at odds with who. Periodically the book slides into an interesting narrative groove where the drama is easy to follow and you get excited to hear what happens next, but then it drifts back into a trough with too many confusing names, and you lose the thread for a bit.

I will commend Martin for his device of a non-omniscient storyteller, a maester of the Citadel assembling a history drawn from various records, some more reliable than others. It’s fun how the salacious accounts of Mushroom the Fool are often counted more accurate than the respectable historians. (Although I wondered how old Mushroom lived to be — apparently he witnessed the reigns of a half dozen Targaryen kings.) For my tastes, the book could have been edited by half to keep the focus on the most juicy bits. But like I said, Simon Vance makes it all worthwhile. Recommended for serious fans with a taste for Targaryen trivia and lots of patience.

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Fun, fascinating education in hockey history

Revisado: 03-27-19

As an avid fan of the modern NHL (let’s go Hurricanes!), I admittedly don’t know much about the sport’s olden days. Sean McIndoe did a ton to fill in the huge gaps in my fan knowledge in a highly entertaining way. You got to love his irreverent attitude of “this league has been so weird and stupid over the years, but it’s still the greatest thing in sports.” I enjoyed learning about how the Original Six were not really the Original Six, how the players had to referee their own game one time, how Canada has long been screwed over by NHL expansion, how it was considered scandalous when European players first came into the league, and how dramatically Gary Bettman changed the modern NHL (and became such a hated figure among fans).

An audiobook like this could be really obnoxious and awful if it were performed in a sports talk radio style: loud, know-it-all and constantly cackling at its own cleverness. Much to his credit, McIndoe avoids such pitfalls in reading his own book. Even though he’s opinionated as hell and thoroughly hilarious, his calm deadpan delivery is perfectly delightful. Never condescending or boorish in his vast hockey knowledge, McIndoe is like listening to a smartass buddy tell you interesting tales of the NHL and how it got that way. Great stuff!

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Hey you! Don't read that! Listen to this!

Revisado: 08-06-18

This lively memoir of Graham McPherson, a.k.a. Suggs of British pop legends Madness, is a must-listen for all fans of the band. It's brimming with picaresque anecdotes and against-all-odds success stories engagingly told in Suggs' own distinctive voice. He's a born storyteller, and indeed several of the tales in this book are quite familiar from his interviews and stage chatter over the years. Hearing him spin his yarns in his London accent, peppered with self-deprecating chuckles and groans, is far superior to reading his words in cold print.

Following the opening chapters on his childhood, Suggs gets down to business with the formation of Madness and their wild career as the U.K.'s top singles band of the 1980s. Here it gets a bit disconcerting as Suggs seems to skip past key events of Madness history, but then it turns out he's not going in strict chronological order. He hops back and forth in a stream of consciousness manner, which after all is more like it would be to hear him chatting about the old days over a pint at the pub, instead of proceeding in a strictly organized documentary fashion. Just be patient and eventually he'll hit all the old familiar bits of Madness mythology. He also recounts a number of lesser known experiences, such as a ramshackle bicycle tour of Italy, and a spiritual odyssey up a banyan tree in Jamaica, which is unexpectedly poetic and beautiful.

If you're not aware of or interested in Madness and its lead singer, this is not an audiobook for you. Go listen to One Step Beyond or The Liberty of Norton Folgate first, then come back here if the music catches your fancy. Any fan of Madness "Absolutely" needs to listen to this. I selected That Close with my first free introductory credit on Audible, and I imagine I will re-listen to this many, many times. Cheers to the great man Suggsy!

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