FOR YOUR TRAVELS

I reckon a few of you will be taking to the roads this summer and I wanted to pass on to you some audiobook recommendations.  I live and breathe audiobooks and the offerings of Audible.com have helped me pass endless hours cruising the highways and byways.

Anything by Jo Nesbo, James Lee Burke, and Stephen King.  These guys are not only successful, prolific, and literate authors, but also their works translate unusually well to a spoken word format.  Nesbo is the Scandinavian creator of Inspector Harry Hole and, as far as I’m concerned, his work surpasses that of Stieg Larsson.  Most of his books are read by Robin Sachs who is Harry Hole. Burke as many of you know is the creator of Iberia Parish flatfoot Dave Robicheaux and his colorful partner Clete Purcell as well as attorney and former Texas Ranger Billy Bob Holland and his uncle Sherriff Hackberry Holland. To classify Burke’s work as mystery writing is like saying Herman Melville wrote about whaling.  I read a review of one of his novels in which the reviewer described JLB’s writing as “muscular-“I am not sure exactly what that means but I completely agree.  His characters are flawed and incomplete and prone to astonishingly bad choices; his villains are among the most vile anywhere.  Will Patton reads most of Burke’s stuff and there is none better in the business – none. King writes voluminously, and in spite of the thematic threads that run throughout all his works, manages somehow to be original and compelling in each of his new works. If you are as yet uninitiated into the Weird World of King, you might want to start with 11/23/63 or The Shining. It, Under the Dome, The Stand, and even the more benign Stand by Me are scary, fascinating, and a lot of fun. And long. Very long.  I finished Joyland a couple of weeks ago, and think it was as fine a book as King has written. And shorter. Much shorter.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  The majesty and brilliance of TGG is sorely wasted on many a secondary school literature student. Many have tried to render this American classic into film and spoken word but with limited success.  I haven’t yet seen Baz Luhrman’s 3D adaptation, but Jake Gyllenhaal’s vocal interpretation knocks it out of the park.

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter. I think I acquired this one as a result of something I saw on the NPR website. I downloaded it and it sat in my ipod for several weeks before I actually starting listening – I was an instant captive.  Well-written and well-read, Walter’s work is the archetype of a great summer beach book.

World War Z by Max Brooks. Be advised not to blow this off as yet another offering in the blood-and-guts-zombie-apocalypse genre. This is a dazzling exercise in fictional oral tradition, and a huge multi-voice cast delivers convincingly. Who would have thought the progeny of Mel Brooks would have come up with this?

I am currently midway through George  R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones series. Fantasy writing does not always make for good listening, but this is fine stuff. I did not not include it above because of its ponderous length and I would guess that most of you do not spend as much time in the driver's seat as me.

I welcome your recommendations. Safe travels!