THE BUTLER A Witness to History

This book offers backstory and a "making-of" look at the movie THE BUTLER. But for all its star power, the tag-team approach to the narration doesn't work. David Oyelowo delivers the opening section, about the life of Eugene Allen, the butler on whom this story is based. Oyelowo's voice has the quiet grace and conviction of the man himself, as well as a slight accent and a soft tone. He uses his normal voice for journalist Wil Haygood. Oprah Winfrey reads a history of blacks and the cinema, but she hands off the reading when the material switches to the first person. Forest Whitaker picks up those parts. At that point, it seems odd to switch narrators. The story itself is compelling enough that the producers should have let Oyelowo read the entire work. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2013]