THE TRAVELING FEAST On the Road and at the Table with My Heroes

Rick Bass is the best--perhaps the only--choice to narrate his account of visiting mentors and admired fellow writers to cook for them. His light Southern accent is pleasant, his voice warm and strong, and he seems honest, humble, and engaging, even endearing. Unfortunately, he reads much of the audiobook in "poet voice," a mannered intoning as of a sacred text. Most sentences end on a rising note, as if to give the impression of great solemnity and high feeling. The unnaturalness of "poet voice" distracts by diverting attention to itself. Its preciosity and straining for effect are off-putting. When Bass abstains from it, the book is likable; at length, it's hard to bear. One longs for the falling cadence of a simple declarative sentence. W.M. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2018]