BORN TO BE POSTHUMOUS The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey

Oh, what fun! An audiobook biography of Edward Gorey, whom most people know through his drawings, especially those used in the opening credits of PBS's "Masterpiece Mystery." Those works are famously dark, spare, black and white, and evidence of a mind that moved in a different direction from most people's. As an artist, he's whimsical, but many times his work crushes those with whom we sympathize. Narrator Adam Sims uses his deep, deliberate voice to create a dark atmosphere supportive of Gorey's vision. In some ways he succeeds, but overall his narration is scratchy and slow. Sims certainly pronounces every word and tries to keep listeners moving through what was a complicated life. Too often, though, his voice loses distinction, his tone gets too low, and he doesn't have the range to enliven the author's words. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2019]