| SEPT
2016
AUDIO BOOK REVIEWS
by Jonathan Lowe
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New
studies show that Alzheimer’s disease is the number
three cause of death in developed countries, behind heart
disease and cancer. But there is good news. We now have
the knowledge to extend both lifespan and mindspan, helping
to ensure that our minds and bodies stay in peak form
at any age. Studying the diets of the “mindspan
elite,” those populations that live longest with
low levels of dementia—as well as the ways that
certain food additives and ingredients interact with our
genes—Dr. Preston Estep (of the Harvard genetics
program) explains how some recent books on the brain and
aging have steered us down the wrong dietary path. Shattering
myths about which foods are and are not beneficial to
our brains, The Mindspan Diet reveals a simple plan to
slow cognitive decline. Startling in its revelations about
healthy eating for those over the age of forty, it challenges
us to rethink our approach to many common staples: Iron)
While iron-fortified foods sound healthy, high iron intake
can be toxic, especially for people over forty, as it
increases the risk of adult-onset diabetes, Alzheimer’s,
and Parkinson’s disease. Whole grains) Processed
non-fortified grains such as white rice, pasta, and flour
are actually staples in the diets of cultures with the
best cognitive health. Protein) Though it’s considered
by some to be a miracle macronutrient, high levels of
protein are actually hard on the kidneys and may promote
cancer and accelerate the progression of dementia. (Most
meat is also high in iron.) Complete with food recommendations,
shopping lists, advice on reading nutrition labels, and
more than seventy delicious recipes, THE MINDSPAN
DIET shows that you can enjoy the richest flavors
life has to offer and remain lean, healthy, and cognitively
intact for a very long life. Narrator James Foster
was born and raised on the west coast, and even though
he’s lived in the midwest for over a decade now,
he still considers Oregon “home.” Nominated
for Voice Arts Awards for best audiobook narration in
the science-fiction, fantasy, and mystery categories,
James has been praised for his conversational delivery
and ability to sound exactly like the voice you were imagining
in your head. |
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It
is interesting to imagine what our current jingoistic
culture would do with John Lennon, if he arrived in America
today. A pot smoking hippie way back when, he was despised
by Republican politicians, who sought to deport him. Young
people loved him for resisting the Vietnam War and Nixon.
Today, even after America’s having never “won”
a war in the WWII sense, instead of being shot by a lone
gunman, Lennon might be called upon to be put in front
of a firing squad for treason, like Snowden. A new audiobook,
JOHN LENNON vs THE USA by Leon Wildes (a lawyer
for an immigration related law firm) details the attempts
to get the Beatle out so he couldn’t join Jerry
Rubin in a “Dump Nixon” rock rally prior to
the 1972 RNC. Strom Thurmond was in on it, as was John
Mitchell (attorney general in charge of illegal alien
deportation.) Nixon also listened to John Dean, and wanted
(with expletives not deleted) to deport Lennon and Yoko
Ono. But Lennon had an expert on immigration on their
side: the author of this book. Wildes found a loophole
in the law to grant an exemption for the couple, even
after stays were denied and applications for “outstanding
artists” were postponed for consideration by the
INS until after they were gone. Nixon was not done killing
young men for no reason, and wanted to get more blood
on his hands. Lennon and Ono were in the way.
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So
was Hunter S. Thompson, as revealed in
FEAR AND LOATHING IN AMERICA. No matter
what your political affiliation, these are worth a listen,
and both audiobooks are narrated by one of my fav voiceover
artists, the always engaging and mellifluous Malcolm
Hillgartner. Wilde’s book is an interesting
look at how custody battles and the politics of greed
worked back then, and they are both relevant to today.
What was at stake then is at stake now. Can we learn from
history, or not? |
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THE
NIX is a hilarious and deeply touching debut
novel about a son, the mother who left him as a child,
and how his search to uncover the secrets of her life
leads him to reclaim his own. Meet Samuel Andresen-Anderson:
stalled writer, bored teacher at a local college, obsessive
player of an online video game. He hasn’t seen his
mother, Faye, since she walked out when he was a child.
But then one day there she is, all over the news, throwing
rocks at a presidential candidate. The media paints Faye
as a militant radical with a sordid past, but as far as
Samuel knows, his mother never left her small Iowa town.
Which version of his mother is the true one? Determined
to solve the puzzle—and finally have something to
deliver to his publisher—Samuel decides to capitalize
on his mother’s new fame by writing a tell-all biography,
a book that will savage her intimately, publicly. But
first, he has to locate her and second, to talk to her
without bursting into tears. As Samuel begins to excavate
her history, the story moves from the rural Midwest of
the 1960s to New York City during the Great Recession
and Occupy Wall Street movement to the infamous riots
at the 1968 Chicago Democratic National Convention, and
finally to Norway, home of the mysterious “Nix”
that his mother told him about as a child. And in these
places, Samuel will unexpectedly find that he has to rethink
everything he ever knew about his mother—a woman
with an epic story of her own, a story she kept hidden
from the world. Narrator Ari Fliakos
is sometimes television actor and Audie award winner.
Bottom line: this is an offbeat comic novel well read
by a guy who can bring the quirky characters to life. |
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When
Lane Coolman’s car is bashed from behind on the
road to the Florida Keys, what appears to be an ordinary
accident is anything but (this is Hiaasen!). Behind the
wheel of the other car is Merry Mansfield—the eponymous
RAZOR GIRL—and the crash scam is
only the beginning of events that spiral crazily out of
control while unleashing some of the wildest characters
Hiaasen has ever set loose on the page. There’s
Trebeaux, the owner of Sedimental Journeys—a company
that steals sand from one beach to restore erosion on
another … Dominick “Big Noogie” Aeola,
a NYC mafia capo with a taste for tropic-wear …
Buck Nance, a Wisconsin accordionist who has rebranded
himself as the star of a redneck reality show called Bayou
Brethren … a street psycho known as Blister who’s
more Buck Nance than Buck could ever be … Brock
Richardson, a Miami product-liability lawyer who’s
getting dangerously—and deformingly—hooked
on the very ED product he’s litigating against …
and Andrew Yancy—formerly Detective Yancy, busted
down to the Key West roach patrol after accosting his
then-lover’s husband with a Dust Buster. Yancy believes
that if he can single-handedly solve a high-profile murder,
he’ll get his detective badge back. That the Razor
Girl may be the key to Yancy’s future will be as
surprising as anything else he encounters along the way—including
the giant Gambian rats that are livening up his restaurant
inspections. Carl Hiaasen is a successful
journalist and novelist. He is a writer and investigative
reporter for the Miami Herald, and his work has appeared
in Time, Life, Esquire, Playboy, Gourmet, and
Sports Illustrated. Narrator John Rubinstein
is the son the pianist Arthur Rubinstein, and a longtime
character actor, composer, and director. From Los Angeles,
the Tony Award winner is best known in the audiobook world
for reading Jonathan Kellerman’s novels, which are
set there. He has a gift for odd voices, and a reporter-like
style used in contrast for the exposition. |
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