Chris

Wonderful

Revisado: 02-13-22

Balcombe lyrically combines reverence for life, scientific rigor, and top-flight storytelling in this book. He left me much more respectful of flies and eager to pass along what I'd learned.
He has flexibility of mind and moral courage. In one place, he tells about how, as a high-school student, he engaged in what he smilingly calls an act of animal liberation, setting the fruit flies he'd been assigned to study in biology class free instead of euthanizing them at the conclusion of the lesson, as he'd been directed to do. A less skillful writer might forget to mention that act, or another might exaggerate it in a boast. Bolcombe describes what he did and why, and makes a modest point about practical kindness. He connects his act to an exploration of fly sentience.
He writes economically, eloquently, forcefully.
I'm really glad I read this book. It changed the way I think.

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This Book is Abridged by Two Thirds!

Revisado: 06-24-20

I never set out to buy abridged books.
This book is listed on Audible as unabridged.
Only upon purchase does one hear editor Quincy T. Mills explain that he's done the reader a favor: "This present edition has been heavily edited to provide listeners access to this significant text. While I have omitted approximately two thirds of the material, I have privileged the experiences of women and families in this edition."
Well, thanks.
How did Mills ever discern that I might not be able to get through the more than 800 pages in the original volume, or that I lack the discretion to make my own judgments about what is valuable in it? I hope he will soon help me out further by winnowing those convoluted regulations in Leviticus, or perhaps by following his predecessor Thomas Bowdler into making Shakespeare less shocking to ladies and young children and more in tune with these times of alternative facts.
Mills' own writing shows he has the judgment and the ear for language to take on such tasks. See how he transforms the noun "privilege" into a verb? How graceful.
To be serious, I should think it's pretty clear why I'm giving this book poor marks in the "Overall" and "Story" categories. I stopped listening the moment I heard Mills confess to what he's done, so I'm not qualified to judge the quality of the performance. I simply gave a middling grade there because Audible requires an entry.
Audible should remove this assault on William Still's work from its inventory. Since it probably won't, the very least it can do is list it as abridged. I'm returning it for a refund.

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Harmless, I guess, but dumb

Revisado: 10-15-19

Maybe this would be OK for an 8-year-old.
I was silly enough to buy this without realizing what I was getting.
The insipid stories and smirking reading soon convinced me to return it.

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Disappointing

Revisado: 09-17-18

The most interesting passage in this book comes in the last chapter, when the crews return to California to deliver their subs to the ship breakers. The sailor who wrote that chapter tells about his Chief of the Boat asking him if he might want to make a career in the Navy. He dutifully says he might, even though he's no longer sure. Maybe one reason is the COB sitting on a bunk before him, this grizzled warrior now smelling of liquor and evidently dreading peacetime life.

The narrator ends with a description of heroic sub after sub being hauled off for scrap. The civilian breaking crews stand on the decks, smoking. The wartime sailors watch their boats from the shore for a while, then walk away.

I learned something about loss in that chapter. It was a little like Audie Murphy knowing he's good with an M1 Garand, but wondering what he's going to do with that skill now that the fighting's over.

I'm sure these sailors went to Hell and Back, too, but for most of the book, you'd never know it. Most of them don't seem to let the reader too deeply into their experience. Maybe it's the pervasive use of the passive voice. People don't seem to do much. Things happen to them, or around them, things that they describe as mildly interesting spectacles. Or maybe it's the editors imposing an oddly flat style to what should surely be gripping stories. Here are young men being depth-charged, or surfacing in the middle of a convoy with all tubes firing, or getting left on deck by mistake when a sub has to dive in a hurry, and it's all oddly uniform in its lack of engagement.

If I had been one of those sailors and had tried to tell what had really happened only to see my story polished flat by the editors, I'd be pretty angry. I can't imagine setting out to tell a story that was important to me and using such lackluster language, working so hard to keep my experience at arm's length. I think I'd either keep my mouth shut, or I'd tell what it was like.

I didn't want blood and thunder. I wanted truth. Most of the time, I got reports.

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Unbearable

Revisado: 09-11-18

I generally don't rate audiobooks by the quality of performance. It doesn't seem quite fair to evaluate the written work by the skills of the reader.
This is an exception.
How on earth did Audible allow such a poor reading onto its site? I can promise, I'm not going to pay for it. As soon as I'm finished with this review, I'll begin seeking a refund.
It may be that there is a language where rhythm doesn't count, but it does in English. So. If I. Arbitrarily break sentences into phrases. Of a predetermined number of syllables that appears to vary by line. It WillBeVeryConfusingForMyAuditorsAndWillUndermineTheStorytelling. It. Doesn't seem. ThatIShouldHave. ToExpllainThisToACompany. Where.
TheStock-In-Trade.
Is.
SpokenPerformance.
As if the horrible pacing weren't bad enough, the reader delivers her work in a monotone.
Is this an experiment in machine reading?
OneMystery is. HowComeThisAppalinglyIneptWorkDidn'tComeThrough. In the preview.
It didn't. Don't be fooled. Don't buy this book. Again, I think it's only fair to require competent work.
I have given the story two stars because the writer had an interesting idea that I would have been delighted to hear. I'll bet she would have developed it. Unfortunately, it's as though she had taken her galleys to a printing press where all the plates had been ruined by fire and that was incapable of printing anything except blurry pages.

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Neurobiology 101, Via the Crow

Revisado: 02-05-18

Where does Gifts of the Crow rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Some people who write about birds try to entertain with anecdote that is short of scientific explanation. Not Marzluff and Angell. Consider this excerpt from the book: "The prairie vole is among the most monogamous of its species. Again, it is a brew of chemicals including dopamine and two hormones, vasopressin and oxytocin, that interact in the nucleus accumbens, septum, palladium, and prefrontal cortex of a vole's brain to guide its monogamous nature (the binding of chemicals to neurons is illustrated in your bonus material as are the brain regions important to social behavior).That's a fairly typical passage. The authors do provide intriguing anecdotes about crow behavior. But whereas some other books leave the reader hanging as to explanations for the surprising stories, Marzluff and Angell undertake to explain, in some detail, often discussing the interplay of hormones in a bird's brain. They repeatedly refer listeners to the supplemental material for more detail. For me, that often meant listening again and again to the same passage, trying to grasp what I was being told. I enjoyed that. I can't call it leisure reading, exactly. I did think it was fun, and I hope I retain it. I may have to get the hardcover book to make sure I do. Such material can be tough to address in an audiobook. I think the authors do a good job.

What other book might you compare Gifts of the Crow to and why?

Maybe Bernd Heinrich's "Mind of the Raven," which also takes a rigorous approach.

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

No.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I wouldn't. But I'd buy the hard copy and read it several times over.

Any additional comments?

I wish Audible carried more books about birds. They're amazing.

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Where Beat Reporting Ought to Lead

Revisado: 01-31-18

What did you love best about A Chance to Win?

Schuppe writes honestly and conveys the lives of the people he's writing about. He tells his story eloquently and thoroughly. He's not often lyrical. He can be matter of fact, even a little clipped in describing the challenges facing his characters and what those challenges show about the world. But that disciplined style let me get to know the people. I also got to know Schuppe a little bit. Some of the things in this book are heartbreaking. Some made me hope for the future. Schuppe isn't the kind of writer who says, "Hey, look at me, how committed I am to these people." He's not the type of writer who wrings his hands. He follows the story. He appears to be comfortable leaving some questions unanswered, or partially answered, in a way that leaves room for the reader to continue the narrative on his own. I really appreciate that kind of writing.

What did you like best about this story?

Scope, flexibility, honesty, balance, truthfulness. See above.

Have you listened to any of L. J. Ganser’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me think.

Any additional comments?

I didn't give this 5 stars because I try to stay from the best or worst possible rating unless I'm really adamant about a book. This is a good solid book with a capable narrator. So for me, five stars is A++++. This is a good, solid A.

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Fascinating. Superb Reporter. Mediocre Writer.

Revisado: 03-26-17

Where does The Pentagon's Brain rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Jacobsen is a superb reporter, a mediocre writer and an execrable narrator. What that boils down to is a really frustrating audio book. Her research is first rate. Her logic is strong. But her writing is clumsy. Her narration is simply dreadful. Both her strengths and her weaknesses are consistent, and they're woven together in a really frustrating way.

She explores really important questions here. Really important, which is why it's such a pity that flaws that could easily be corrected mar her work.

As I found with the other Jacobsen book I've read, Operation Paperclip, this book is at its strongest at the end, especially in her description of her interview with Allen Macy Dulles Jr., where at moments she's almost lyrical, and in her concluding analysis of what DARPA's direction means to our republic and the future of humanity.

Elsewhere, her writing is poor and her narration almost unbearable. It is a tribute to her skill as a reporter that I was able to force myself through this book's weaknesses. I repeat what I've said elsewhere. Jacobsen needs a writing coach, better editing, or both. She should either improve her delivery or leave the reading aloud to someone else.

And yet, I'm glad I read this book. Jacobsen takes the time to examine the workings of the military-industrial complex thoroughly. She raises unsettling questions about technology and responsibility, and she explores them thoughtfully. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time. I may read it again. There's a lot to think about here.

What was most disappointing about Annie Jacobsen’s story?

See above. Jacobsen obviously is really smart and she's very thorough. So why does she use such dumb phrases as "future plans?" I have yet to plan anything retroactively. I'm surprised she didn't find a place to throw in "free gift."

I suppose I could comb through the book and give you a list of malapropisms, cliches, dangling modifiers, clumsy constructions, and on and on, but why bother? It's a pity that such an incisive mind expresses its thoughts so awkwardly. Again, she needs a writing coach and a much tougher editor.

How could the performance have been better?

By performing adequately or assigning that to someone else. She simply can't read aloud. Red tape. Read that aloud. Where's the emphasis? Slightly stronger on "tape," right? Not when Jacobson reads it. With her, it's always RED tape. There are lots and lots of such failures in delivery in this narration. She stops. And starts. In weird places alternately jamming words together with no punctuation. And then laying the stress on the wrong syllable or mispronouncing a word. She sounds like she's scared to death of the mic and is just trying to get through the narration because it's part of her contract. She does an awful job. It's disconcerting. In fact, it can be really distracting.

Strangely enough, her voice itself is kind of nice, a little breathy. It sounds like a voice you'd like to have a conversation with. But she doesn't know how to use it. I can't imagine she talks to her friends the way she reads in this book and in Operation Paperclip.

The fact remains that if Jacobsen weren't such a good reporter -- not writer, but reporter -- I'd have given up.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, it didn't make me laugh or cry. It made me think, despite the flaws I've described.

Any additional comments?

I sometimes wonder whether writers and narrators ever read these comments. I know that Internet reviews can make for dreary reading, apparent self-aggrandizement by people who may have accomplished far less than the writers and narrators they criticize. They did the work. They got paid. Why listen to the carping of some dissatisfied customer?

But still, it bothers me that in the two Jacobsen books I've listened to, I've had very similar criticisms. She could be really, really good. Good editing improves most writers. Delivery is crucial to story-telling.

I wish I could tell Jacobsen, "Look. You're more-or-less OK, but you could be really good. Your fine reporting is undermined by flaws that can be corrected. You could be really, really good. You're shooting yourself in the foot."

I'd like to see her work improve. I value what she has to say. I just wish she didn't say it so poorly.

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A writer's writer telling an epic story

Revisado: 11-20-16

Would you listen to Bottom of the 33rd again? Why?

I'd rather read it. Dan Barry's narration is really good. But his prose is so rich that there is more to get than I at least can from just listening, which I guess might be one of the reasons people started writing stories down.
I know this might be seen as overwrought, but the stories I love most are the ones meant for singing around campfires, like the Iliad. The thing about those stories is sometimes the singer says something so good that you're left saying, "What? What? That was really good. Tell me again." And so the singers started writing things down for people like me.
There is a lot here, in the people, in the narrative drive, in the reporting, in the deft turning of a phrase and in the longer arc of the story, in how they are woven together. This is a really, really good story.
I wonder whether Barry thinks about the parallels between being a writer and a ballplayer. He is far too disciplined ever to speak of that in so many words, but the loneliness and wonder, the moments when it really does all come down to one person, are there. So is the silence, the sense of what it means to stand there alone, while people wait. But without any elitism.
Reading Barry is to know what it's like to step out onto the wrestling mat while the gym thunders around you, and then, all the sudden, how the gym goes silent -- not because people have stopped yelling but because you can't hear them any more, because all you know and hear and see is that other wrestler and what you have to do.
Years ago, my newspaper had the incongruous idea of sponsoring a series of writing seminars. It was incongruous because this was a paper that had very little understanding of, or regard for, the written word. But I did get one of the one-on-one meetings with the writer leading the seminars. He asked me who I read and I said Homer. Even though I'm a lifelong journalist, it didn't occur to me to cite journalists.
Gently, he said, "Ok, but what about newspaper writers?" I couldn't name anyone besides Edna Buchanan. I've been looking ever since.
Today, I'd certainly name Barry. This is what I went into this business to do. He's done it. Homer? No. But he's really, really, really good.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dave Koza. Anne Koza. Ben Mondor. Wade Boggs, Michael Kinch, Thomas P. McCoy. The book is full of them.

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

I heard a writer reading a book he'd poured his heart into, and that meant a lot to me. He's disciplined, which means as much.
But the book is much bigger than Barry. Read it on paper. Get mustard on it. Fall asleep with it. That's what Barry would want you to do.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Obviously, I did have a strong reaction. I think it was the way that Barry talked about the ideals we all strive for.
He did it modestly, matter-of-factually. He did it with the clarity of a line drive disappearing into a shortstop's glove, that straight white line, that certainty.
I work hard as a writer. Barry made me want to work harder. He has strengthened my love for the English language and my commitment to my trade.

Any additional comments?

Read this book. Help Barry pay his bills so he can keep writing. Read this book.

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Exemplary Reporting on a Pressing Issue

Revisado: 07-15-16

What made the experience of listening to Evicted the most enjoyable?

I admired it and will recommend it. I didn't enjoy it, because the dreadful situation it describes is painful to read about. But Desmond writes with such authority that I certainly am glad I read it. This book goes well beyond describing a bad situation. It proposes solutions, and solutions as a starting point. It inspired me to think about what I might be able to do, as a citizen and a writer, to help help heal this social malady.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Probably Desmond. At the end of the book, he talks about how he tried to keep out of the picture, and he certainly doesn't draw attention to himself in most of the book, but he's a steady, honest reporter, an authoritative voice. He combines personal details about the characters in the book with legal, historical and statistical context very gracefully. I undertook to read this book because I thought I should. Part way through, I realized I was glad I was reading it. Again, I didn't enjoy it, because the situation is so sad. But I realized that Desmond's an honest writer, and I trusted him to help me find my way through.

Which scene was your favorite?

I was rooting for several of these people, who face so much defeat. So when something went a little better for some of them, and when one of them actually was able to escape, I was really grateful.
A lot of times, when you're writing about a bad situation, it's easy to pile dreadful occurrence on dreadful occurrence on dreadful occurrence. That can leave the reader feeling helpless, convinced that the situation is irremediable. Desmond didn't fall into that trap. Both in the people he writes about and the policies he discusses, he points to better alternatives. And again, he does this with understanding, compassionately.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I loved this book. It's a model in honest, balanced, purposeful reporting. It's a model in how to describe an outrage without being self-righteous or denying the humanity of any of the people involved in the outrage. There's no preaching. Desmond simply explains things any American ought to be concerned about and trusts the reader to act.

Any additional comments?

This is a really, really good book. It's first-rate journalism.
Read this book.

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