ECONOMICS IN ONE LESSON

Here is a case in which the spoken-word leads to better memory retention than the written version did--for this reviewer, anyway. Hazlitt was a remarkably lucid writer, and this short book is justly regarded as a classic introduction to the dismal science of economics. But it comes across even better in Jeff Riggenbach's interpretation. Riggenbach has a knack for making routine discursive sentences come alive. It's not that he's effusive or histrionic, but that his presentation suits the material; he could be a college professor lecturing, the kind of lecturer who really can teach. He sounds reasonable, engaging and thoroughly likeable. D.W. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/MAR 01]