Tom

A gift for fans

Revisado: 08-06-18

I very much enjoyed the audio presentation here mainly narrated by Cary Elwes himself. Robin Wright, Rob Reiner, Billy Crystal, and other members of the cast do their portions which really makes it feel like an onstage panel with surviving members of the cast. (Some members are voiced by other narrators which keeps the presentation diverse.)

I always felt here was a Monty Python feel to the movie, different from the book as I pointed out in my review of The Princess Bride. This makes sense since I learned that Production Design by Norman Garwood (Brazil, Time Bandits) tied key creative direction to the Python troupe. The casting that brought in Garwood and the actors reveals how this was constructed from such a desire to produce a witty, smart, satirical screenplay with the participation of author William Goldman. Other things of note include the gigantic generosity and appetites of Andre The Giant, the completely unnecessary insecurity of Wallace Shawn ("Inconceivable!"), the intense amount of swordplay practice put in by Elwes and Mandy Patinkin to stage the "greatest duel" as well as the two serious injuries that befell Elwes.

Certainly 4 stars for any committed fan of the movie as it is like a warm and witty audio commentary to the film.

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Promising original content

Revisado: 11-13-17

Is this an audiobook or a podcast? I think more the latter, but I applaud Audible's content-generation scheme here. I have seen many reviews chiding this series (enjoyable as a single package) for not coming to a clear, neat conclusion, but I find it typical Ronson gold. His discursive, exploratory assaying of the topic - here the modern Internet age of porn - is thought-provoking, feeling, enlightening, and investigative.

“AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY”

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Missed opportunity

Revisado: 04-05-12

Narrated by Stow Lovejoy, this is a poor delivery of a weak story about what should be a thrilling telling one of the most potent R&D think tanks American industry has produced. Gehani brushes over personally creating the C programming language and working alongside mighty brains that pushed aside pigeono poo to discover cosmic background radiation left over from The Big Bang. Instead, Gehani feels compelled to talk about managerial details like the lack of power of the Bell Labs president and intricacies of an employee's expense report.

Finally, at the very end, with the story of birthing a business to provide in-car navigation aids (Magellan) does Gehani get it together for the tone of story he should have told, but buy then it is tool late...

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Insights from the Insider

Revisado: 12-31-11

I think Julia Childs and Henry Miller have a secret lovechild and his name is Anthony Bourdain. Bourdain's delight in exposing the gutter in tha galleyand pirate crews in the kitchen is effusive and vivid in this tell-all of life from dishwasher to chef in New York kitchens. Sometimes it is a bit too Manhattan-centric, but Bourdain makes no apologies for that or any of his ribald ways, drug-taking or the sending back out of reclaimed bread. Yes, you may never look at the bread basket, buffets, or fish special again after this revelatory book.

Hearing it read by the author is a real treat. His use of New York and culinary slang in long, multi-adjective rants sounds like a hip Beat's rhythmic patter.

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Best narrator!

Revisado: 12-30-11

Iris Chang's crisp and economic delivery makes this one of the best nonfiction audiobooks I have ever enjoyed.

The evil perpetrated upon the conquered Chinese by the Japanese is appalling. To think, even the local Nazi contingent felt things had gone too far and set up a safe zone for the persecuted to find succor behind the swastika...

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Adams' Narration makes it!

Revisado: 11-29-11

Always a bit of a muddle compared to the previous three, the greatest charm to this book in my mind is the biscuit-eating story, although I prefer the elaborated version from "The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time".

However, narration by Adams himself makes this all worthwhile and enjoyable.

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An enlightening closer look

Revisado: 11-28-11

This is a fascinating and detail account taking apart FDR's New Deal and exposing it weaknesses. Some things I learned here new to me were that unit banking laws in American versus the branch banking laws in Canada (more like current laws) may have been one reason why the Depression was longer and worse in the U.S. than right across the border in Canada. Also, the Depression was much longer than I knew: 17% average unemployment for most of a decaded with no year below 14% during that time. The book makes a compelling case that the U.S. emerged from the Great Depression in spite of FDR's policies, not because of them.

Good narration.

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A good sandwich, but too much bread

Revisado: 11-28-11

This is my second time taking in the Dayton Duncan-Ken Burns audiobook about plucky doctor-turned-adventurer Horatio Jackson's historic first crossing of the U.S. continent by automobile. The challenges, the individual triumph, the unplanned three-way race make for a compelling, exciting American tale. Cameo narration by Tom Hanks and, at the NYC end, George Plimpton, and others make for a great, exciting, entertaining telling. However, Ken Burns' lengthy, self-indulgent introduction borders on narcissism and takes away from the initial energy, while Duncan's panoramic road trip paean and excessive Walt Whitman quotes take away from the already perfect conclusion: Horation finally making it home.

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Needs updated narration

Revisado: 11-28-11

London's chronoligical, tightly coupled tales of Fish Patrol fights with oyster pirates, Greek scofflaw salmon poachers and more is marred by this 1982 audio production with low audio quality and a narrator that is just phoning it in.

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Excellent husband & wife memoir

Revisado: 11-20-11

I generally read spy memoirs as they are an interestiong between two of my favorite non-fiction genres: true crime and military history. This one I was partly also intersted in due to Baer's fairly frequent appearance as a guest commentator on TV and his inspiration to the film "Syriana". This book did not disappoint from lacking in intrigue and action since it is a very human, compelling husband-wife autobiography about being in the CIA and trying to outlive. Like "Honor Thy Father", the book is a tale of the banality of the underworld, but most of it is the two trying to outlive their spy past, despite the world intruding on their remote home and overcoming the obstacles of their independent effort to international adoption through Pakistan. The book is told in a relfective, philosophical almost wistful telling as if their lives are rather unreal and dreamlike, which is how they seem to me.

I really appreciate the trade-off narration between both the Baers in this excellent husband & wife memoir. It highlighted the different points of view both had of their shared experience.

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