THE PRINCE OF TENNESSEE

In a biography that is informative but not entertaining, the authors never justify calling Al Gore a prince. More words are devoted to how much marijuana he smoked in his early years. Although well researched, the audiobook is but a chronology of events, narrated by the author in deadly dull delivery. With rare changes of expression, David Maraniss reads facts and quotes, unseasoned by anything resembling a story. What good does it do us to read of wife Tipper's psychological problems without gaining any insight into them? The book's sketch of the former vice president's father, Senator Albert Gore, Sr., gives the best genesis we can form of the man who almost became president in 2000. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB / MAR 03]