THE GREATEST STORY EVER SOLD The Decline and Fall of Truth From 9/11 to Katrina

It's a daunting task to maintain a tone of incredulity throughout eight CDs of condemnation and outrage without finally sounding insufferably strident. But Grover Gardner pulls it off, and does so without, incredibly, disappearing into a monotone of dispassion. No, Gardner, never deprives his reading of irony and sting, but he also doesn't try to artificially juice up the material. There's no need, of course. NEW YORK TIMES columnist Frank Rich is plenty exercised himself in this scorching dismantling of the Bush administration, which he exposes for willful deceit in its pursuit of war, incompetence in virtually every arena it enters, and a cynicism and malice that are hard for Rich to imagine have had their equal in American history. M.O. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 07]