Edward Forsythe

Excellent Recap of the 90s

Revisado: 05-30-23

Klosterman provides a thorough and detailed recap of the events that took the country from the greedy 80s to the nation-changing 9/11 attacks. The times are explained with connections to todays events with a well-researched understanding of Gen X. This book is well worth reading to really get the feel of the 90s!

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Excellent information read like a professor reading their dissertation

Revisado: 03-08-23

The content of this book is very well researched and provides an excellent look at how Putin appointed the right subordinates, had laws and policies approved to his benefit, and changed governmental structures in the 2000s and early 2010s in order to solidify the Tsardom he now enjoys.

Unfortunately the delivery of this audiobook is that of a professor reading their dissertation to an interested but distracted class. The content is full of facts and statistics that are difficult to follow in an audiobook format. The content would be better presented in a more narrative form that explains what happened instead of listing the details of what happened when. Further, someone who actually speaks Russian should be reading this book—the reader’s mispronunciation of common Russian words left me exasperated and I ultimately gave up after listening to only half of the audiobook.

The information in this book is important and gives a detailed account of how Russia has transformed in the past 20 years. It would be best to buy the print book and explore the richness of the research on its pages. That’s what I’ll be doing instead of trudging forward through the rest of the audiobook version.

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Required Reading for Today’s Young and Old

Revisado: 03-03-22

Trevor is known to most Americans as the face of The Daily Show, but few of us know from whence he came. This autobiography gives amazing insight into the true horror of apartheid and how it devastated the lives of South Africans for decades. Noah’s gift for weaving comedy into the tragedy of his childhood is both moving and thought-provoking. I laughed and was stopped in my tracks several times listening to Trevor’s story. This should be required reading for all as a measure to ensure that no country ever considers creating such a heinous, racist, damnable situation ever again. Thank you Trevor Noah for sharing your story and for helping us to laugh amid the shock.

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Plenty of wisdom & life lessons from a well-lived life

Revisado: 05-06-21

McConaughey weaves a tale of a purposeful and fun-filled life while sharing the wisdom and lessons he learned along the way. Being read by the author makes the words and ideas resonate, even if the sudden shifts to bumperstickers and prescriptions do catch you off-guard. That pattern did make me listen a little more intently. McConaughey’s shared lessons were so sound and true that I’m buying this book in print for myself and my kids to keep as a handy reference source for inspiration. There can be only one way to sum up this book: Alright, alright, alright!

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A must-read for all Russophiles!

Revisado: 02-09-20

For anyone interested in Soviet history or nuclear power, this book is required reading. It’s insight into how the fear built into the power structures of the Soviet authoritarian system brought forth a horrendous tragedy, the effects of which humanity will be dealing with for decades to come. I’d highly recommend watching the HBO docudrama before reading / listening to be able to better visualize the reactor situation and responses to the explosion as you read. The reading of this audiobook is great, but the reader had difficulty with some Russian words. It was not distracting for the listener, but a Russian speaker will catch the inaccuracies. Overall, this is an amazing book that provides in-depth information about one of the 20th Century’s greatest disasters.

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Excellent Story; Audiobook Not Properly Separated

Revisado: 01-21-20

This installment in the Cotton Malone story was as good as previous titles and Scott Brick's narration is excellent as usual. I enjoyed the story and the historical comments / annotations by the author at the end of the chapters was an excellent bonus! This download contains 2 versions of the book--1 without author comments and 1 with them. However, this audiobook was not properly divided up into chapters so the 2nd version with the audio comments begins about half-way through a 2-hour chunk of chapters and it was NOT easy to find. If they reformat this download, then the book would be perfect; but until then it does Berry's work a disservice.

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Chasing Tolstoy and Other Russian Authors

Revisado: 01-21-20

Batuman's story of following her interests in Russian authors was interesting and mostly engaging, but I think it would have been better if I had read more of the books she discussed beforehand--especially Tolstoj and Pushkin. The narration was good and the information about her experiences living in former Soviet satellite countries was extremely interesting! It was worth listening to this book for that insight alone. Anyone interested in Russian literature or in life in Russia / former Soviet countries shortly after the fall of the USSR will find this book engaging and enjoyable.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Thought-provoking look at unanswered questions surrounding MLK’s murder

Revisado: 09-03-19

This look at an interesting part of history that still holds many unanswered questions was an exciting read and kept me turning the pages. While this version seemed to be less fact-based than other Berry works, that didn’t distract from the story’s engagement. The background on the beginning of Cotton Malone’s relationship with Stephanie Nell and the Justice Dept. was interesting and revelatory. I highly recommend this book for all Steve Berry fans and anyone who wants to ponder what really happened in 1968.

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Interesting insight into an often misunderstood President

Revisado: 07-16-19

This book provides a very interesting look at the history and decisions of a President who is often overshadowed by his successor. The details about Eisenhower’s interactions with foreign dignitaries and especially Premier Khrushchev explain the extremely tense situations that our two countries found themselves in at the beginning of the Cold War. More information about Eisenhower’s relationship with Nixon and how they teamed up to lead the country would have been interesting, but the explanation of the lack of Nixon’s involvement in running the country possibly explains why there wasn’t more mention of this in the text. Overall this is a very interesting book and provides excellent insight into a Presidency that is often overlooked and misunderstood. If only we had heeded Eisenhower’s advice on foreign policy and the military-industrial complex, America might find itself in a very different world at the moment...

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Excellent Spy Thriller that Kept me Listening!

Revisado: 02-16-19

Red Sparrow was a great listen and I found myself hesitating to turn it off when I was had to do other things. The story flowed well and kept me listening and the twist at the end left me hoping for a sequel by Matthews. The narration was very good and easy to listen to except that he had poor pronunciation of the Russian language sprinkled throughout the novel. For a story that will obviously appeal to anyone remotely interested in Russia and spycraft, the fact that they chose a narrator who didn't speak or at least know how to accurately pronounce Russian words left me frustrated. It didn't stop me from enjoying the story, but did give me a mental hiccup whenever a word was mispronounced. Overall, it was a wonderful story with a well-thought out plot through an exciting spy thriller. I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in the world of espionage.

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