BARRY

Reveals Something Other than What Gray Intended.

Revisado: 12-10-20

Can I just observe before starting that a lot of the favorable reviews look suspicious? One or two lines of superlatives written by people who have never written an Audible review before?

There are two chapters I like in the book - one at the beginning about Ali and the one at the end about Gray's father. Both are heartfelt.

The rest of the book shows the one flaw in Gray's otherwise successful career. This is the one that fans booed him for when he interviewed Pete Rose as part of the Mastercard 100 greatest baseball players celebration. It's the same that led to criticism of "The Decision" with LeBron James. Gray sometimes fails to see the context of his stories - the setting, the mood of spectators. His friend Bob Costas excels at this, as Gray seems to recognize.

How does this apply to the other chapters in the book? Too often, it seems that Gray is more interested in showing off himself than in revealing interesting stories about his purported subjects. I started to anticipate that there would be a story in each chapter about how the celebrity would acknowledge Gray's achievements, whether as a presenter at an award show honoring Gray or in some other way. It also felt that Gray was showing off in being friends with most of the people covered. How great am I, friends with Ali, Dr. J, Tom Brady, and Mike Tyson?

The failure to anticipate how things will be perceived is apparent in the introductory and acknowledgement sections, too. Bob Costas highlighting the chapters of the book as if they were a batting lineup seems like a funny idea until you realize there are 19 chapters to get though. Snoop reading acknowledgements would have been funny if it were a one-minute bit, but it goes on for 10-minutes plus.

I have no doubt that Jim Gray is a great guy. He has lots of friends who trust him, and he must be a warm person. Featuring his friends more and himself less would have made this a better book.

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I really wanted to like this, but

Revisado: 03-10-19

Maybe the best advice I can give about this book is that if you like PG Wodehouse, you may like this. If you love PG Wodehouse, you will not like this.

Many of the favorite Wodehouse characters are here, in name anyway. It's enjoyable to be reminded of them and to think they are still having their adventures. But as those who love Wodehouse know, there is a reason that he is called the Master. His phrasing is unsurpassed and often made me re-read a sentence several times just to savor it. This book never did that, never could do that. The characters were in situations Wodehouse wouldn't have used and saying things they wouldn't have said. I really wanted to like this book, but I can't recommend it.

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Great Successor to All Quiet on the Western Front

Revisado: 02-20-19

If you admired Remarque's masterpiece All Quiet on the Western Front, you'll be captivated by this as well. The author's perspective could only come from one who experienced the Great War himself. His language is simple, poetic, authentic, and a great tribute to all who suffered, both during the war and when they returned home.

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I Thought I Liked Jim Gaffigan

Revisado: 10-01-13

Would you try another book from Jim Gaffigan and/or Jim Gaffigan?

I always found Jim Gaffigan funny when I saw him on TV, but this book is not good. Though it's superficially divided into chapters, the book is really an undifferentiated collection of observations about kids and parenting. If I had a dollar for every time he says his wife Jeannie is great, I'd be rich. I'm sure she IS great, though I hold her responsible for typing the manuscript and so being the indirect cause of my wasted monthly Audible credit.

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Worst Audiobook I've Heard by Far

Revisado: 04-22-11

Why this audiobook had five stars from other reviewers is a question I'll never have answered. I hadn't read a Zane Grey book before and thought this might be a useful start. It wasn't. The main characters are barely credible, the dialogue is incredibly stilted, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that Grey wrote this while in high school. Or that he got a D on it in his writing class. I'm not giving up on Zane Grey; I'm sure I'll try another story. I'll just have to wait until the memory of this one fades.

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Very funny, entertaining book - flawlessly written

Revisado: 07-22-10

What an exceptional book this is. I enoyed it even more than Jerome's "Three Men in a Boat." Like P.G. Wodehouse, Jerome doesn't waste a word or ever seem to use one that isn't perfect. Frederick Davidson is my favorite narrator and is a great choice for this book. There are many funny stories and descriptions in "Three Men on the Bummel," but the author offers many keen observations, too, about the character of the German people. Don't get the idea that this is some sort of sociological treatise, though. It's a great treat to hear.

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Excellent book and narration

Revisado: 03-04-10

This is a well-written, very entertaining book about how everyday people in China are moving from a rural economy to a modern one. It's amazing to me how Hessler was able to gain the confidence of so many people in order to learn how they really feel about the things going on around them. We learn some of the cultural differences between us and people in China, but I came away thinking that we're not really that different. I give this audiobook four stars and would note to potential buyers that the mediocre overall rating so far owes much to the 1-star rating of the previous reviewer who supposedly liked the book but not the narrator. Hit the sample button to see if you like the narration. I thought the reader was very good at voice characterization, and there are a lot of different voices to perform here - from very young children to older men and women.

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Four Stars - Maybe Five Without the Skips

Revisado: 01-27-10

I agree almost completely with the earlier review here. The pieces are all interesting, very illuminating, and, of course, exceptionally well written. The skips in the audio are mainly in the second half, and while they are irritating, the book is well worth the trouble.

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Excellent Introduction to Wodehouse

Revisado: 03-24-08

This is a wonderful introduction to P.G. Wodehouse, very well narrated by Frederick Davidson. These are all early Bertie and Jeeves stories and contain some of the great scenes and characters fans have enjoyed for several decades. Wodehouse fans have their favorite narrators; I've enjoyed Martin Jarvis in other productions. Davidson has a great range of voices, and by the end of the book I couldn't imagine anyone giving a better performance.

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A Mastepiece

Revisado: 12-25-07

The Brother Karamazov is one of the truly great classics and Frederick Davidson is a master of narration. I can't for the life of me understand reviewers who say he's pretentious. I've often searched for audiobooks he's read and have never been disappointed.

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