Mr.Alarm

Hear his impersonations!

Revisado: 09-20-22

You can’t beat this audiobook, narrated by the author, Billy Crystal, because, he does everyone’s voices! Whether it’s Muhammad Ali, Micky Mantle, or somebody you’ve not even heard of. He’s such a great impersonator, why wouldn’t you want to get extra mask by hearing those voices?

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From 6 Hour One Man Show, Edited Down Heavily

Revisado: 05-28-22

As is befitting a subject who rarely edited himself, Simon Callo’s book started out as a one-man show lasting 6 hours, and he had to keep editing and editing to bring it down to a reasonable 2-3 hours. The book is based on his one-man show.

Pretty much gives a full version of Wagner‘s life, from unknown and unappreciated to revolutionary, to brilliant and admired genius. Hearing Callow’s verbal illuminations are sometimes breathtaking. He does a really good job.

Wagoner’s “creed” is very telling of his values (art above all). Callow quotes heavily from Wagner’s extensive writings, as well as those of his friends, admirers and haters.

Obviously, Wagner is a very difficult subject tackle!

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Great Text & Reading, Ruined by Background Music!

Revisado: 05-23-22

Why, o why, did the producers feel the need to add a totally unnecessary, distracting, & annoying music-loop to the background of Tim Keller's reading of his excellent book, The Prodigal God??!

There can be only one answer: a misguided tradition in many contemporary Evangelical churches, of adding music to scripture reading and prayer, to involve the emotions. Music has always been a guide for feelings, perhaps the most obvious example being heard in movies. Movie soundtrack music always accompanies the visuals to inform and magnify what our emotions are supposed to be to what we are seeing.

But with oral narration of thought-provoking written material, deep thinking withOUT emotions is required.

It's actually a bit ironic that this awful and cloying music accompanies Tim's excellent speaking, in as much as Tim talks about Jesus' first listeners to the parable would NOT have been feeling sentimental, but rather outrage. Yet, this annoying and totally UNNECESSARY & redundant music loop is there to make Tim's hearer's feel things.

Just get the original book - it's only 2 hours long itself - and hear Tim's excellent reading WITHOUT the blasted music loop (this Audio Bible Study is just an outtake from the original book anyway). It's the last book of his that Tim narrated, and for good reason. Tim told me, when I asked him about it, that the work involved in narrating an audiobook is VERY challenging!

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You Want to Supersize the Laughs? Listen to This!

Revisado: 09-10-20

A friend recommended this book to me, and it sounded too good, and funny, to pass up. I was DE-lighted to see that there was an Audible audiobook version available - my preferred way to read a book. Not only are Alexander's sociological insights into the blue-collar working world fascinating, but they are told with empathy, a real-life outsider's view, and also a comedic flair. The ONLY way to improve on this book? Fantastic deadpan reading by David Marantz. I've heard some excellent audiobook readers, but for delivery of humor and impeccable timing, Marantz can't be beat. Wow! What fun. Even at times a gracious understanding of our fellow man who serve us, for often under minimum wage.

I HIGHLY recommend this audiobook. Next to Billy Crystal's reading of his own book, "Still Foolin' 'Em", Nancy Cartwright's reading of her "My Life As a 10-Year-Old Boy" and Dick Cavett's reading of "Brief Encouters"/"Talk Show Host", this book is as well-read as I think "Lo" Alexander could have asked for.

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Alternate History, ala To Kill a Mockingbird

Revisado: 09-19-19

1. I have never before read Philip Roth (not a big contemporary fiction guy), so this is the only thing of his I have to go by.
2. I read it because HBO is making a mini-series based on it, and wanted to know what it is about ahead of viewing.
3. The story is interesting enough, and, besides already knowing the subject, the "parallels to today" are speculative.
4. The twist at the end, though possible, seems a bit of a stretch to me.
5. My main reason for lower scoring: Ron Silver's reading. I have listened to a ton of audio-books, so I know narrators, and most are excellent. I would say Silver's is NOT bad, but, he has a habit of OVER-art articulating, E-NUN-CI-AT-ING every word as if trying to communicate to, perhaps illiterates or people who don't understand English or something. I found it a bit grating at times, and made it a bit harder to appreciate the writing. He also was not great impersonating voices, which, is something some narrators do very well, others less. I felt he at least did the voice of Philip Levin the child, the narrator, when he sometimes quoted a conversation he had a child, and spoke as in that child-like voice (PL is about 9 years old); but that was about it.
6. Overall, a decent book - in value AND in lack of Roth's famous "extreme sexual longings, often of a perverse nature", that "Portnoy's Complaint" is known for. The rare mentions about sexual things - the story is told from a child's perspective after all! - was, for me, welcoming.

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Great Stories, Good Reading, but...

Revisado: 08-15-17

Would you listen to O. Henry: Complete Short Stories Collection again? Why?

Bob Thomley does an above board job, with great character voices in cameo, as well as his narration. I know reading for audio-books is a labor-intensive job, and most readers do a good job of preparing for reading difficult words, names, or foreign languages that appear in their text.

But Mr. Thomley, in the O. Henry short story Christmas By Injunction, actually said "en-u-ee" (sounds like N-U-E) for the word 'ennui', a commonly known french noun meaning boredom, (pronounced änˈwē/), in this passage: Bobby had retreated to a distant chair, and was coldly regarding the scene with ennui plastered thick upon him.

Other than that, so far a great listen, and, of course, the stories are great even when they sometimes don't come to a satisfactory conclusion for me.

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