THE INTELLECTUAL DEVOTIONAL Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class

Two voices—one male, one female—read short essays on 365 topics in seven fields of learning. Both narrators are competent, but the contrast between them is too great. Helen Litchfield's voice is sharper and louder than Oliver Wyman's. Further, the information is superficial and untrustworthy; there are frequent errors of fact and interpretation. The book's "daily" format is an uncomfortable match for audio. Audiobook consumers rarely listen for just a few minutes, the length of one of these entries. As a result, this is like listening to a substandard encyclopedia. Like the writers, the narrators can't be experts on every subject—as their pronunciation of many foreign and classical terms, or even "difficult" words, shows—they are off, or simply wrong, often enough to chafe. Both book and recording exhibit a lack of seriousness and care. W.M. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2009]