MY KIND OF PLACE

The author’s places are as far-flung as Mt. Fuji and as close to home as a supermarket in Queens, as banal as a toddler beauty pageant and as uplifting as the portrait of the student body president at Martin Luther King Jr. High School (“Horror High”) in New York. The author says that a journey is one of discovery and that you really don’t have to GO anywhere. Nonetheless, you visit Bhutan for a fertility rite and Cuba for a baseball game, but these in the end are human interest stories beautifully read by Karen White and Orlean herself. Though the packaging fails to disclose who is reading what, and the voices are similar, it really doesn’t matter because each essay is delivered with enthusiasm, clarity, and empathy. No matter the subject--tigers in New Jersey or the wildly successful franchised artist Thomas Kinkade--you will be entertained, informed, and certain that this is your kind of audio. J.B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 05]