and the legal battle progress, marked by
courtroom twists, electrocutions, fires,
attempted murder, and hairbreadth
escapes, Cravath meets a series of fascinating, fully crafted characters, all of
whom are provided appropriate voice. But
McClain’s talent is best on display when
speaking for the maddeningly eccentric
Nikola Tesla. The genius inventor who
yammers away in a Serbian accent that
sounds authentic and is mostly understandable, constantly shifting emotional
gears from sarcasm to truculence to self-aggrandizement to, finally, genuine
warmth and fondness toward Cravath.
Quite a performance. A Random House
hardcover. (Aug.)
Nonfiction
Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair
That Shaped a First Lady
Susan Quinn, read by Kimberly Farr. Penguin
Audio, unabridged, 11 CDs, 14 hrs., $45
ISBN 978-0-7352-8938-3
Few know of Eleanor Roosevelt’s
decades-long relationship with Lorena
“Hick” Hickok, an Associated Press
reporter assigned to cover her in the early
years of F.D.R.’s presidency. Though previous biographies have marginalized or
disregarded this relationship, Quinn’s
biography delves deeply into the letters
and other records to illustrate a powerfully rich love story that affected the
world directly and indirectly. Reader Farr
turns in a clever performance for the audio
edition. At times, she reads in a straightforward manner. At other points in the
book her tone, rhythm, and projection
changes, and she becomes lively. These
shifts help contrast Roosevelt’s public
persona as first lady of the United States
and her private life with Hick. A Penguin
Press hardcover. (Sept.)
In Such Good Company
Carol Burnett, read by the author. Random
House Audio, unabridged, 8 CDs, 8 hrs., $35
ISBN 978-0-7352-8484-5
It’s a real treat to listen to comedian
Burnett reminisce on her variety show,
from its early days, through its height, to
its end. As Burnett traces the show’s his-
tory, she explains the challenges and issues
that the show faced but also the cultural
context in which it developed, as well as
its legacy. No one could narrate this book
better than Burnett, not just because of
her professional experience, but because of
the enthusiasm, love, and sheer joy that
emanates from her performance. Her
slightly warbly voice brims with amuse-
ment and self-deprecation as she recalls
her obstacles, her follies, and her suc-
cesses. Accompanying
her story, Burnett
includes the first
person accounts of are
a handful of firsthand
narrations from cast,
crew, and friends of
Burnett who share
their stories in
working on the show.
Altogether, the production adds depth and meaning to
Burnett’s memoir that the prose alone
cannot match. A Crown Archetype hardcover.
(Sept.)
The Pigeon Tunnel:
Stories From My Life
John le Carré, read by the author. Penguin
Audio, unabridged, 10 CDs, 11. 5 hrs., $40
ISBN 978-0-7352-1004-2
In this assortment of memories from a
master storyteller, le Carré reminisces
about his posting as a young British intelligence officer in post-WWII Germany,
his time in Gorbachev’s Russia, and
research trips for his novels. People,
places, times, dates, and events are jumbled together in no particular order, but
manage, overall, to fit together and form
an engaging and often insightful narrative. Le Carré proves a natural raconteur of
his own work. His reading is smooth, conversational, and totally absorbing. He
speaks easily of meeting with presidents,
prime ministers, rebel fighters, and a
variety of other people from around the
world, giving most expertly rendered
vocal characterizations that are as enjoyable for the listener as they are unexpected. Whether le Carré is describing
being under fire from the Khmer Rouge,
remembering his stint as a spy with MI5,
or recounting the time he smoked dope in
an opium den, his storytelling makes for
fascinating listening. A Viking hardcover.
(Sept.)
Adnan’s Story: The Search for
Truth and Justice After Serial
Rabia Chaudry, read by the author. Macmillan
Audio, unabridged, 12 CDs, 14. 5 hrs., $39.99
ISBN 978-1-4272-7576-9
Attorney, scholar, and human-rights
activist Chaudry tackles the audio edition
of her book chronicling the ordeal of her
younger brother’s best friend Adnan Syed,
the subject of the first season of
the popular true-crime podcast
Serial. (Syed, who has spent
almost two decades imprisoned
in Maryland for the death of his
former girlfriend Hae Min Lee,
was recently granted a new
trial.) Chaudry brings a pal-
pable sense of passion and drive
to the recording. When
speaking in the first person
with regard to being Muslim and her close
connections to Syed, Chaudry’s delivery
takes on an engaging conversational
quality. When reading the complex maze
of transcripts and evidence accounts,
Chaudry’s manner seems a bit less pol-
ished. Yet fans of the radio-journalism
style that the very case in question helped
bring to the forefront will appreciate her
thorough, no-nonsense approach. The
audiobook also includes a special PDF of
documents related to Syed’s case, a
straightforward, no-frills display of the
written record that presents the wide-
ranging scope of Syed’s defense. A St.
Martin’s hardcover. (Aug.)
I’m Supposed to Protect You from
All This
Nadja Spiegelman, read by the author.
Penguin Audio, unabridged, 9 CDs, 11. 5 hrs.,
$40 ISBN 978-0-7352-0557-4
With two prominent intellectual parents (cartoonist Art Spiegelman, author of
Maus, and Françoise Mouly, New Yorker art
editor, graphic novel publisher, and recipient of numerous artistic awards),
Spiegelman must grapple with her legacy
but finds the more challenging endeavor
to be reconciling the barrier between her
mother and herself. She traces her life in
contrast to her mother to see the lines of
difference, but she also comes to learn the
ways in which they are more alike than she
imagined. In the audio edition,
Spiegelman wavers in her reading. At
times, her delivery drones on without
