Robert Kennedy Audiobook by Evan Thomas

Title: Robert Kennedy
Subtitle: His Life
Author: Evan Thomas
Narrator: Ray Porter
Format: Unabridged
Length: 20 hrs and 14 mins
Language: English
Release date: 11-16-06
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 208 votes
Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Political Figures

Publisher's Summary:
Traditionally, Robert F. Kennedy has been viewed as either the "Good Bobby", who saw wrong and tried to right it, or the "Bad Bobby" of countless conspiracy theories. Evan Thomas' achievement is to realize RFK as a human being, to bring to life an extraordinarily complex man who was at once kind and cruel, devious and honest, fearful and brave. The portrait that emerges is unvarnished but sympathetic, packed with new details about Kennedy's early life and his behind-the-scenes machinations. In a clear and fast-paced narrative, Thomas cuts through the mythology to reveal a character who, though he died young and just as he was reaching for ultimate power, remains one of the century's most fascinating men.
©2000 Evan Thomas; (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic Reviews:
"Thomas' book sheds new light on a man, an era, and a family about whom Americans will probably never know the whole truth." (Publishers Weekly)
"Friends and foes have spun enough myths about RFK to bewilder the casual reader; Thomas sets out to examine the evidence....A solid, judicious life of a politician whose tragic death inspired a generation of what-if history." (Booklist)
"Robert F. Kennedy....is well served by this gracefully written, thoroughly researched, and accessible popular biography....Thomas' narrative, skillfully woven from numerous interviews, vividly reveals a very human Kennedy." (Library Journal)

Members Reviews:
Excellent
A well researched, well read book. I almost passed on this book based on the couple of reviews that pan the reader. How glad I am that I listened anyway. The book is well researched and, accordingly, has numerous quotations, even "starting in mid-sentence." The reader's change of voice makes it crystal clear what material is the author's and what belongs to the historical characters. I can't imagine listening without such a reading. An audio listener would miss much that the reader would know from the printed page. Just perfect.
Regarding the content, Thomas is masterful. Good biographies put the reader "there." Great ones put the reader "inside the subject." The best ones let the author's understanding of the subject explain how and what the subject was thinking, and the author lays out the rationale so the explanation is real and not mere conjecture. This is true throughout this book, from Bobby's childhood to his actions throughout the complex relationship with Hoover.

A good book spoiled
I have the hardcover of this very fine book and was looking forward to reviewing it in audio form. However, the narrator uses a voice more common to perhaps a batman comic book, and somewhere along the line a decision was made that rather than simply using a change of voice to indicate quoted material, the author changes his voice in a terribly weak attempt to sound like the quoted character...he does this even with female voices. His attempts at a "Harvard" accent when quoting the brothers Kennedy and other characters in the book is a terrible distraction to otherwise fine material. I give two starts based upon content alone...and that would be higher but the narrator is such a disappointment that the score must be driven down.