DANTE

This is a superb audio experience in every way. Lewis, the eminent critic and biographer of Edith Wharton, is also the author of a marvelous book on Florence. This brief biography, one in the Penguin Lives series of short critical biographies by esteemed authors and critics, captures the essence of Dante as a poet, a Florentine, and a citizen of the ages. The prose is lucid, Lewis’s retelling of Dante’s life and writings instantly engaging and inviting repeated listenings. Gardner’s fluency in English and Italian recreates the seamlessness of Lewis’s accomplished prose--for which he is both translator and critic. The Penguin Lives series, which has proved highly popular and is now being widely imitated in publishing, proves even more effective in an audio format. Here the melody of Dante’s lines and the succinctness of Lewis’s prose are enhanced in the reading, and the duration, four cassettes unabridged, offers a complete text at the usual length of an abridgment. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/ JAN 02]