A LIFE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Innocent Beginnings, 1917-1950

The memoirs of Arthur Schlesinger, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and special assistant to President Kennedy, are rambling and abundant. The sentences go on so long it's hard to remember where they started, and his throwing in hundreds of names doesn't help. The "butterfly" approach to history flits from memory to memory, making orientation in time a challenge for the listener. But, like mushrooms in a forest, some tasty stories pop up from the fallen leaves. Nelson Runger seems destined to ramble along with the text, for it offers little opportunity for expression. Henry Kissinger calls this "one of the definitive histories of the period." J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 02]