Dan Dan The Art Man

In this eighth episode I bring you a review of Stephen King's brilliant book 11/22/63. Quite a departure from the book I reviewed in the last episode, and next weeks will be even more of a change in genre. Listen to hear just why I think Stephen King's book is a must read.

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Audiobook Pick-of-the-Week: 

11-22-63: A Novel Written by: Stephen King Narrated by: Craig Wasson

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In this seventh episode I tackle one of the most loved and hated books in recent history - Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. You may be surprised by my findings. Listen to the review to find out what I thought about the book.

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Audiobook Pick-of-the-Week: 

Twilight Written by: Stephenie Meyer Narrated by: Ilyana Kadushin

This episode of Dan Dan The Art Man's Book Reviews has been brought to you by Audible.

Visit www.AudiblePodcast.com/DansBookReviews for a free trial membership.

Audible Free Trial Details

Get an audiobook of your choice, free, with a 30-day trial. After the trial, your paid membership will begin at $14.95 per month. With your membership, you will receive one credit every month, good for any audiobook on Audible.

Cancel anytime, effective the next monthly billing cycle. Cancel before your trial ends and you will not be charged. Check out the full terms and policies that apply to Audible membership.

In this special sixth episode I review the podiobook Murder At Avedon Hill by the late P.G. Holyfield. The review was another very short one, so I again elaborate on how incredible this book is, especially in the serialized podcast format found at www.Podiobooks.com. A great podcast novel due to it's great story, acting with a full cast, and production with music and sound effects done well as with last week's book. The author of the book I reviewed this week recently passed away at a young age. Listen to find out how you can help with all the costs left behind by his medical bills and end of life care. Thanks for listening.

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In this fifth episode I review the podiobook "The Case of the Singing Sword" by Tee Morris. The review is ridiculously short, but I go on to elaborate just how awesome this book is, especially in the serialized podcast format found at www.Podiobooks.com. A great podcast novel due to it's great story, acting with a full cast, and production with music and sound effects done well.

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In this forth episode I continued in my quest to read more of the classics of the science fiction genre. Listen to my review as I share fond memories of reading Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.

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In this third episode I review Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne. This review comes from a time when I was trying to read some of the classics of the science fiction genre.

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In this second episode I review the Christmas Classic titled "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. Listen as I share my thoughts on why this classic is so great and the tradition I've started of reading every year around the holidays.

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In this first episode listen to me share my thoughts on the classic novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. It's a book I hated in high school, but reread again after college to find that I actually appreciated it.

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Welcome to my new podcast Dan Dan The Art Man's Book Reviews! This is episode zero where I explain what the podcast will be like so you know what to expect. Have a listen and enjoy.

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Book Memories guest blog post # 9 by Sue Leib Bernstein

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BOOK MEMORIES # 9

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE WORDS

There’s something about a well-crafted turn of a phrase that has always given me pause. Even as a child, when I would read a book and came across an unexpected, beautifully-turned phrase, I would stop and read just that phrase, over and over, until I could practically taste it. Then, I would continue on with the story.

For me to love a book, it must have more than just well-fleshed-out characters, an engaging story and snappy repartee. The books that stay with me are the ones whose word choices surprise and delight me, whose phrases are both unexpected and exquisite. One of the first books I can remember staying with me is "The Age of Innocence," by Edith Wharton.

"The Age of Innocence" is the story of upper-class mores of New York society beginning in the 1870s and how, with the turn of the 20th century and passing of generations, change affects every aspect of the traditions they held so dear. This is a world where style and form are the highest values. Sounds dry as dust, doesn’t it? But, Edith Wharton’s words and descriptions bring this world to vivid, delicious life.  Instead of merely advising the readers that the matriarch of that New York society, Mrs. Manson Mingott, is fat, Ms. Wharton wrote: “The immense accretion of flesh which had descended on her in middle life like a flood of lava on a doomed city had changed her from a plump active little woman with a neatly-turned foot and ankle into something as vast and august as a natural phenomenon.” I clearly remember reading this for the first time in high school and rolling the words “the immense accretion of flesh” around on my tongue. 

Instead of a mundane throw-away line about the matriarch no longer being physically active, Ms. Wharton wrote: “The burden of Mrs. Manson Mingott’s flesh had long since made it impossible for her to go up and down stairs….” The burden of her flesh – I love this phrase. It is succinct, concise and descriptive without being maudlin. It is perfect.

The protagonist of the story, Newland Archer, is a young man of modern values who is constrained by the traditions of the society in which he, his family and friends lived. As described by Wharton, they lived above the “unruffled surface of New York society.” Newland was engaged to be married to May Welland, which would accomplish not only his own betrothal but the merger of two honored New York families. While watching his fiancée from across the audience of the old opera house, Newland “contemplated her absorbed young face with a thrill of possessorship in which pride in his own masculine initiation was mingled with a tender reverence for her abysmal purity.” With all deference to modern culture, isn’t this a much nicer way of saying that he was proud of himself for being the one to snag this beautiful, young virgin? In literature, whether old or new, it’s all about the words.

Bio:

Sue is a typical Gemini – she craves novelty and variety and gets bored easily. These traits have served Sue well, leading her to try her hand at many fields. Over the last 25% years, Sue is and has been an attorney, corporate risk manager, personal caterer and editor. Currently, Sue is exercising her passion for voice acting by narrating the fabulous fiction of author Imogen Rose. You can also catch Sue on TV in a national commercial for Dunkin’ Donuts. Sue lives in New Jersey with her husband, son and three very large cats.