LAST WORDS

Listeners will think they're hearing one of the famous comedian's monologues. George Carlin starts his memoir as he slides down his mother's birth canal, happy that she earlier got cold feet in an abortion doctor's waiting room. His memories seem like everyone else's except for his artful way of expressing them. George's older brother Patrick, who narrates, sounds like the late author, with a raspy voice that suggests a smoke-filled past. He also has the humorist's masterful timing in relating the witty observations that brought his brother fame. George attacked society's conventions, and Patrick's delivery captures the audacity of the performer's taboo language on stage. The narrator’s intensity varies, being more somber, for example, when the author describes the calamity of a long drug addiction. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2010]