EMBRACE FEARLESSLY THE BURNING WORLD Essays

James Naughton has narrated several of the late Barry Lopez's audiobooks: He performs in a deep, calm, resonant tone. His pace, timing, and emulation of the author's voice--intimate, self-analytical, philosophical--seem to enter the mind of the famed writer and naturalist. Naughton is a master of cadence. He delivers these valedictory essays like prose poems, and they remain with the listener. Lopez was a close observer of the natural world. The listener is treated to his forays to the South Pole, the Alaskan outback, and Africa. He also writes about being an abused child and his diagnosis of prostate cancer near the very end. Lopez was dedicated to getting the story in places "remote, elemental and fierce." A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2022]