Phillip

Narrator isn’t quite right

Revisado: 06-17-24

The narrator is not quite right for this material. The lead character, Elizabeth, sounds much older than she is. Several female characters are performed as having deep voices, which made it difficult at times to distinguish between them and male characters. The story was just okay. About 2/3 of the way in story elements started to feel repetitive and a little tedious; this was something I noticed in the first book, but it wasn’t quite as draggy as this one. If there’s a third book released as an audiobook, I might give it a chance if they switch up the narrator.

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Ouch

Revisado: 05-15-17

Any additional comments?

I'm a huge fan of the Magic 2.0 series and couldn't wait for this book to be released. I would rate the first three books in the series as all being 5-stars. The reason I am rating this book so much lower is because it's lacking several of the qualities that make the first three books great. The cleverness and complexity of stories that this series is known for is pretty much void in this book. The first three books deal with interesting questions and discussions of cause and effect, free will, gender dynamics, etc.; this book only references those ideas briefly. The humor is missing from this one. The first three books are hilarious, and I would say they hit their high point in book 3; I don't think I ever laughed or chuckled while listening to this one. Luke Daniels, the narrator who makes these stories come to life, even seemed noticeably bored in parts of this book.

I think the real problem with this book, though, above anything else, is who the story chooses to focus on. It spends lengthy amounts of time on the townspeople of medieval England/Scotland/Wales, who are the least interesting characters of all the books. There are painfully long sequences of dialogue (e.g. the Scottish warriors, the little girl who befriends the dragon, every scene with the character Honore) that just don't go anywhere. As a result of this, the story arcs of the characters I'm most interested in (e.g. Philip, Martin, Brit, Gwen) don't really progress at all...with the exception of the dim realization they come to at the end of the story, that maybe they've been ignoring the impact they have on the townsfolk.

Ultimately, this book seemed to just be filler material, and hopefully the next book will be a bit more interesting; after all, the last scene of the book does hint that something big is going to happen in the next story.

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Rewarding for Shining Fans

Revisado: 09-18-16

What did you like best about this story?

As a sequel to one of King's best novels, this book had some serious factors working against it. The Shining is a legendary book, and Doctor Sleep needed to not only be good, but also needed to make sure it did not diminish the greatness of its predecessor. My expectations for this book were not only met, but exceeded. Doctor Sleep provides closure for its characters and is a cathartic experience for the listener.

What does Will Patton bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Will Patton seems to understand that many of the characters are people who have lived difficult lives, and that comes through exceptionally well in his reading.

Any additional comments?

I was (pleasantly) surprised at how quickly Doctor Sleep moves. The Shining is a slower-paced story that involves a considerable amount of inner-monologue from Jack Torrance, and I expected Doctor Sleep to be similarly paced, but it is a story that moves like a full-steam locomotive.

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Quirky and Entertaining

Revisado: 09-11-16

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Authorities?

This book is hilarious throughout, and fans of Scott Meyer's other writings (e.g. Magic 2.0 series) will be perfectly in tune for the humor of this book. Perhaps when Sinclaire is being outfitted with his new "look" and vehicle made me laugh the most, but there were so many other moments that stood out in the book, it's hard to choose.

What does Luke Daniels bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I hope Luke Daniels narrarates all of Scott Meyer's future books. Daniels' reading is perfectly synced up to the tone of Meyer's writing style and humor.

Any additional comments?

Although this book is not Meyer's best, and the premise is a bit more shaky than the Magic 2.0 series, it is just such a fun, weird ride, that I am convinced I'll read/listen to anything Meyer writes.

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Endlessly Interesting

Revisado: 09-11-16

What did you love best about The River of Doubt?

Candice Millard struck gold with this story! MIllard found a fascinating historical topic that has not been overly written about, and then wrote what is probably going to be the definitive book on it. This book beautifully weaves together a biographical account of Theodore Roosevelt's life, the perils of the expedition into the Amazonian jungle, the intellectual and social mood of the early 20th century, and a thorough biology lesson as well. I honestly picked this book on kind of a whim, and immediately knew I made the right choice.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I ended up listening to all of it in the course of a long weekend

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Lots of Fun

Revisado: 09-05-16

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book examines so many fun, interesting rivalries, and generates lots of good conversations. So, yes, I would recommend this to a friend, because it would be great to discuss and debate these pop cultural ideas.

Did Ben Sullivan do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Ben Sullivan is fine as the narrator, but there were some definite mispronunciations of band names, album titles, etc.; this really isn't that big of a deal, but when it happens, it just pulls you out of the book to remind you that this isn't the author reading it, but someone "playing" the author. Having learned about this book from a radio interview with the author, Steven Hyden, I kind of think this was a missed opportunity to simply just use the author as the narrator; I think it would have made it just a bit more authentic.

Any additional comments?

The first rivalry discussed in this book, Oasis vs. Blur, is the weakest of them all. It's a strange choice to begin with, because it's probably the most niche and least interesting. Full disclosure: I'm an Oasis fan and I really didn't connect with this chapter at all. My suggestion, either power through this one, or just skip it, because there is lots of better material after it.

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Perfect Balance of Historical Fact and Humor.

Revisado: 07-13-16

What did you love best about Lafayette in the Somewhat United States?

I loved getting Lafayette's outsider perspective of United States during the Revolution. Lafayette was a young, brave, foolhardy eccentric when he arrived to fight alongside the Americans, and he is brought to life perfectly by Sarah Vowell's writing.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Lafayette in the Somewhat United States?

The fascinating imprint that Lafayette has left on the U.S.; not only in place names, but from his celebrated return to the U.S. on the Revolution's 50th anniversary, to his impact on the Women's Suffrage Movement, he has played a larger role than most Americans are probably aware of.

Which scene was your favorite?

Any of the early interactions between Washington and Lafayette, when Washington is still skeptical of who this young man really is, and what he actually wants.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes! I basically listened to it all in one go on a Saturday.

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Unfocused

Revisado: 07-12-16

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Chuck Klosterman is at his best when he is writing within a concept that has clear parameters, and this book's concept is too wide-ranging and loose, resulting in a seemingly hodgepodge collection of thoughts and interview snippets. Compare this book to Klosterman's last work, "The Man in the Black Hat," which allowed the author to focus in on a signgular concept, the "villain" archtype, and to discuss the various complexities of fitting modern high-profile societal figures into that concept; the result was a laser-focused, interesting, and fun examination of that idea. "But What If We're Wrong" never seems to find it's footing and never seems to know where it's going.

What was most disappointing about Chuck Klosterman’s story?

The book seemed to be cobbled together and suffers from long deviations from the central idea. After reading all of Klosterman's collected works and novels, this seemed to be the first time when he was out of his depth with some of the subject matter; e.g. most topics connected to hard science and physics in this book.

What aspect of Chuck Klosterman and Fiona Hardingham ’s performance would you have changed?

I do not understand why Fiona Hardingham is narrating this book. Her voice is nice and her reading is fine, but in all honesty, it is an active distraction for her to be reading in the first person for Chuck Klosterman.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from But What If We're Wrong??

I think the book needs a clear reworking of its outline and structure.

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A Complete Mess

Revisado: 04-18-16

Would you try another book from Geoff Manaugh and/or Scott Aiello?

I would not try another book by the author. The book is poor on several levels. The structure of the book is a mess, and the topics discussed in it seem to be haphazardly put together in a scattershot method. The author also goes off on several long digressions that at times only slightly relate to the actual topic of the book. Two examples of this would be the overly long section at the beginning with the LAPD helicopter patrol, and later with the long trip down the rabbit hole of lock-picking; the latter of these two seems like it would directly have to do with burglary, except the author and those he interviewed explicitly restate again and again that lock-pickers are not burglars. That leads me to my next point, which is the insufferable amount of redundancy in this book. The author repeats the same points over and over again. Finally, the author includes numerous examples of successful burglaries and failures, but nearly every time only provides half of the story, leaving out critical, basic story-telling information, constantly leaving me thinking, "okay, where is the rest of story." The author states in the book that it took two and half years to research this book, but most of it feels like it was researched through Wikipedia and Google News searches. This book might work with a serious reedit, but in its current state, it interminable. I have the distinct feeling that this book started out as something different, and then someone slapped a catchy title on it, promising something it really does not deliver.

Has A Burglar's Guide to the City turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not necessarily, but I'll be more cautious next time in choosing something in this genre.

Have you listened to any of Scott Aiello’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Scott Aiello's performance was fine. His character voices seemed pretty generic, but it is not like he was given much to work with here.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The panic room and lock-picking sections were interesting, but they do not necessarily work overall very well in this book.

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Reasonably Good For Klosterman Fans

Revisado: 06-06-14

What did you like best about The Visible Man? What did you like least?

The best thing about The Visible Man is Annabella Sciorra's narration of Victoria. Sciorra really holds this audiobook together. The character of Victoria is also better written than the character of Y__, so that helped as well. The four-star rating for "Performance" on this audiobook is for Sciorra's reading and not for Scott Shepherd, who I felt really played Y__ as way too angry; also, I do understand that Y__ is an angry character, but I think Shepherd could have used some restraint. My least favorite thing about The Visible Man is Klosterman's inability to remove himself from the story. I am a Klosterman fan, and I do enjoy his writing style quite a bit, so it is always nice to hear his dialogue, even when it is a flawed story, and The Visible Man is definitely flawed. There are several problems with this book, including character development, story structure, meandering monologues, etc. I think the problem Klosterman is going to have as he continues to write fiction, is removing his all too obvious voice and perspectives from the characters he creates; he manages this much better in his first novel, Downtown Owl, which is one of my favorite pieces of writing by him. In The Visible Man, Klosterman's unique attitude toward pop culture, existentialism, and world views is shoved into the mouths of these characters without a lot of finesse. If the listener is already familiar with other Klosterman works, than they will find these Klosterisms easily locatable in the story.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would have developed the character Y__ differently to demonstrate more sensitivity and empathy. Klosterman piles a lot of issues onto Y__'s character; Y__ is a genius, engineer, sociopath, drug addict, voyeur, burglar, etc., etc., etc. It is too much for one character in this particular story.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Victoria is delivering Y__'s joke about the clown.

Any additional comments?

To be honest, this book just felt rushed, and seemed like it needed for time for development. There is a great story in The Visible Man, but it just takes too many strange, unfulfilling twists and turns. The first quarter of the story is much more measured, thoughtful, and seemingly worked out than the rest of it.

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