David

Great story

Revisado: 04-16-25

Hated the ending. Very unsatisfying conclusion. Is this supposed to be a nail biter for the next book?

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One of the best ever

Revisado: 01-30-23

Might be my favorite book ever. It’s a couple of months since I finished it and I still think about the characters and the story. It’s a modern masterpiece!

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Pretty good but not great

Revisado: 01-18-23

Good story but a weak ending. I enjoyed it but was underwhelmed by the last chapter. I expected more from John Sanford.

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An great book, ruined by an appalling narration

Revisado: 06-15-21

This is an important, amazing book, but I almost didn't finish it because of the narrator. Adenrele Ojo has a pleasant voice but she apparently doesn't understand the words that she's reading. I won't bore you with too many details of how she butchers the narration, but here is one glaring example. The test reads "they received a $600 Million donation" - she reads it as "they received a six hundred dollar million donation". Listening to the book, it appears that she reads a line and then the next line without any understanding of the context, content or need to make sense of the reading. She also has the annoying habit of putting heavy emphasis on words like "that" which frequently disrupts the flow of a sentence.
I can't count the number of times that I had to stop listening because of the mistakes, mispronunciations and downright butchery.
It's a testament to the power of Michael Lewis' story that I was able to finish it at all. Don't listen to this, do your self a favor - buy the book!

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Fascinating book - disappointing narration

Revisado: 10-11-18

This is a great book, fascinating subject matter and very thought-provoking.
Unfortunately, and this was a big negative for me, the choice of an Australian narrator was a huge mistake. Some words are mispronounced entirely and many words have an Australian accented pronunciation which is jarring to American ears. Why an American author would choose a foreign narrator is a mystery. I would normally listen to a book like this several times but with this narration, even once was a draining experience.

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Damning indictment of Russian Government.

Revisado: 06-24-18

Even though this is a compelling story, it was spoiled for me by Adam Grupper's narration. There were many times when I considered abandoning the book because of the tone of the narration. Grupper makes Bill Browder sound like an egotistical, self-absorbed narcissist who wrote the book for his own self-aggrandizement. It was only at the end when Browder narrates the final chapter himself that you get a sense of who he is and the whole book makes more sense.
I have long believed that the Russian political system was a huge fraud and the oligarchs a bunch of thieves but to see how closely connected their interests are is still stunning.
The tale of corruption, political intrigue and the grab for money at all costs would be almost unbelievable in the pages of a John LeCarre novel but to know that it's a true story is incredible.
After reading this book, when you see a politician smiling for a photo opportunity with a Russian government official you will probably feel nauseous and completely disgusted about the slimy deals that they make to keep each other in power.
The Russian Government should be treated like the pariahs that they are and completely shut off from the outside world until they are unceremoniously thrown out by their own people.

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Great book, terrible narration

Revisado: 05-26-17

Without question, the best information on the subject of gaining expertise through correct practice methods. A must for anyone interested in peak human performance.
But there is a huge caveat - the narration is dreadful, so much so that I purchased the hard copy rather than suffer through the audio version.
The narrator has the annoying habit of allowing his voice to trail off at the end of the sentence, he apparently has no working knowledge of timbre or intonation and as such should not be working in the field of professional narration.
Get the hard copy version of the eBook, don't subject yourself to this aural assault.

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Good but not great

Revisado: 02-10-17

The author tried a little bit too hard. A very good story spoiled by an attempt to humanize an intelligence service agent a little bit too much. The character also tried a bit too hard to be both super competent and super compassionate - think James Bond and Mother Theresa in the same body.
The bigger issue was the narration which was flawed in several ways. The narrator completely missed the mark with several of his accents and simply became annoying with many others. More disturbing was his inability to use correct inflection so that, for example, the words "general store" where the correct emphasis is on the second word to describe a store that sells many items of a general nature - not a specific class of items, had the emphasis on the first word and thereby became a store that sold Generals.
This is just one example of the same kind of mistake that permeates the book and leads the reader to think that the narrator has no real understanding of the meaning that the author was trying to convey and was simply reading the words so that he could get paid. However, it is a testament to the quality of the story that I was able to tolerate the narrator for almost 20 hours.
I would certainly never listen to another book narrated by this person.

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Amazing Story

Revisado: 02-16-12

By all reasonable standards, Louie Zamperini should not be alive. The fact that he is still traveling and speaking in public at the age of 94 is remarkable.
Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. If this was a novel you would call it unbelievable and cast it aside.
An amazing story of a remarkable life and the triumph of the human spirit over seemingly unbeatable odds.

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Fantastic Book - Pity about the Narrator

Revisado: 11-10-11

Walter Isaacson has written a fascinating book. Sometimes painful, sometimes inspiring. It's a magnificent account of the complex character that was Steve Jobs. That it should be published now is bitter sweet. Steve didn't want to read it but knew that it had to be written.

My only complaint is the narration. Dylan Baker is unable to correctly pronounce such common words as "entrepreneur" and place names such as "Palo Alto". I also felt that his interpretation of some of the actual quotes was lacking in the manner in which he places emphasis on certain words. In English, the nuances of the language can change the meaning of the communication and the intent of the speaker. I think that the narration failed to do justice to the content.

However, overall, it's a great piece of work. I'm sure that Steve - in his next incarnation - will read it someday and perhaps be a more compassionate human being, without losing any of his genius.

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