The Spoken Word

Reviews by Sukey Howard

Whoopi making whoopi on audio

Start the new year off with a listen that will make you laugh out loud. "Audiobook," Whoopi Goldberg's audio version of her book, "Book," is a hoot, and that's not surprising, because Whoopi is a very funny person, especially in stand-up-comic mode -- and she's surely standing up here. Whoopi does not mince words, and if the unminced can make you wince, turn that volume down. She is profane and, at times, profound. Her opinions are strong, her range outrageous -- bathroom behavior, political behavior, the Pope, parenting, driving in the post-modern era, death in the Kevorkian era, tolerance and much more. Whoopi makes you giggle, but she also makes you think.

Quite the fish story

"The Perfect Storm," Sebastian Junger's extraordinary nonfiction account of the 1991 hurricane and the six swordfishermen who went down with the "Andrea Gail" off the coast of Nova Scotia is riveting, as good or better than the best adventure fiction. And its power and immediacy is somehow intensified by Stanley Tucci's cool, steady narration. In telling this story, Junger seamlessly interlaces information about the New England fishing industry and the science of storms with individual portraits of the men who were lost and the people who loved them.

A fresh new voice in legal thrillers

Unlike so many perpetrators of legal thriller fiction, D. W. Buffa cares about ethics, and they're central to his first novel, "The Defense," a fresh and welcome addition to the genre. Defense attorney Joseph Antonelli lives to win, and he does, willingly deceiving himself and the jurors whenever necessary. Then Judge Rifkin, the only man Antonelli truly respects, asks him to defend a lowlife con man clearly guilty of raping his 12-year-old stepdaughter. He wins again, but at a cost that proves higher than Antonelli or Rifkin imagined. Buffa, a former trial lawyer, knows this territory well. There's real courtroom suspense, and he makes Antonelli a fully fleshed-out character whose pride in being able to make a distinction between justice and the legal system is tested to the limit.


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New hilarity from John Mortimer

"Felix in the Underworld," John Mortimer's twenty-seventh novel, is a delightful, satirical take on life and life in publishing. Felix Morsom, its unwitting hero, is a serious, unassuming British novelist, whose greatest anxiety is facing that blank piece of paper every morning. But enter Gavin and Miriam, supposed fans of Felix's prose, and life-threatening chaos ensues. First Felix finds himself in a paternity suit, then accused of murder. Does the fine Felix find justice? Tune in and see, you'll enjoy it all the way. And you'll enjoy Michael Pennington's first-rate performance.


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Two for the price of one

Yes, indeed! There are two serial killers in James Patterson's newest thriller, "Cat and Mouse," and, holding center stage for the good guys is D.C. detective Alex Cross, serial killer stalker extraordinaire. One of the killers, Gary Seniji, is all too well known to Cross -- and vice versa -- and the other is the oddly communicative "Mr. Smith," who is leaving a trail of dismembered bodies across a terrorized Europe. The two cases cross when Alex and his family are brutally attacked by what appears to be Seniji's ghost, and Pierce, the offbeat FBI agent chasing Mr. Smith, is brought into the investigation. But the deadly cat-and-mouse game only escalates. The two excellent readers, Anthony Heald and Keith David, make the plausible real and the implausible, plausible.


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Helping oneself in the new year

Okay, it's the onset of the new year when that always-growing self-improvement category seems more relevant than ever. But, we'll go easy. First of all: "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff . . . and It's All Small Stuff". That's not only the title of Richard Carlson's bestseller, it's his mainstay and mantra. First, stop, take a breath, really think about what is most important to you, then consider Carlsonıs simple advice, his "softer, more graceful path" to living a richer life. Here are specific strategies for learning how to respond to life with more ease, to replace old habits of reaction with new habits of perspective, to let go of problems instead of resisting them. What seemed insurmountable might just become more manageable.


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So now that you are well adjusted, you can take noted financial planner Stephen M. Pollen's revolutionary advice -- "Die Broke." No joke, he's a serious guy with what may be the radical plan that keeps you solvent and happy in the new world of the twenty-first century. Pollen fervently believes that if you quit today (attitudinally that is -- it frees you from investing too much in one job), pay cash (the benefits are overwhelmingly self-evident), don't retire (work is as important as play), you can work out a prudent plan that allows you to give what you can to your children while you're still here, and do it without sacrificing your quality of life. Listen carefully -- despite the shock appeal of the title, Pollen makes a lot of sense.


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Sukey's Favorite

Don DeLillo's "Underworld" is a big book, over 800 pages, that has gotten big raves. The audio version, read by Dennis Boutsikaris, though somewhat abridged (9 hours), remains big, sprawling, totally engaging with an opening thatıs an absolute knockout. DeLillo writes about America in the last half of this century and sprinkles a few real characters among the fictional. The novel cuts a wide swath across historical events and at the same time looks at details of the past with piercing, poignant understanding. There's a lot of story here, stories within stories and characters within characters -- much to be pondered and dissected. But, as is only possible with a finely produced audio, this presentation lets the words of the novel wash over you. You can stop and ponder and dissect if you wish, or just let them flow.



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Sukey Howard reports on spoken word audio each month. Don't miss her audio reviews on CNN's "Sunday Morning."

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