Preston D. Hutson

Poor performance

Reviewed: 04-02-14

What didn’t you like about Walter Dixon’s performance?

I like Walter Dixon, and have listened to other performances. But compared to the last one, this one is like he's on an old 45. He's speed reading. (Yes the settings are correct! ).

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

Very dry, uninspired reading . . . .

Reviewed: 03-10-14

Would you consider the audio edition of The Irony of American History to be better than the print version?

Drawn from 2 Niebuhr speeches on the ironic contradictions of American Foreign Policy in the face of Communism, the book offers a powerful critique of several pedantic myths underlying that Policy. If, as Andrew Bacevich opines in the introduction, the book is "the most important book ever written on US foreign policy," one might expect its reading to give effect to that power by drawing upon its oral beginnings. Where one might expect the reading to create a sense of intrigue that sends the listener back to the written word for affirmation of Niebuhr's most compelling points, the listener is instead sent scurrying back to the book in a desperate attempt to discern Niebuhr's intended meaning and to ascertain "what's the big deal about this book?"

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He ruined it, see above.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Very early, Niebuhr explains the ironic similarities with the naivety of Christian idealism and the naivety of Communist thought, which for me, was jaw-droppingly powerful stuff.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful