Talking Books on the

Metropolitan Washington Ear

In April 2008

 

 

Past is Prologue   Monday - Friday at 10:00 a.m.

Taj Mahal

Nonfiction by Diana and Michael Preston, 2007.

Shah Jahan began work on the structure as a memorial to his wife, but it became one of the seven wonders of the world.

Read by Leila Poullada.  11 broadcasts. Began March 24.

 

Empire of Blue Water

Nonfiction by Stephan Talty, 2007.

Henry Morgan was 20 when he crossed the Atlantic in 1655 to make his fortune. For three decades, he was a pirate working for the English, shaping the destiny of the New World. Read by Barbara Struyk.  12 broadcasts. Begins April 8.

  

Billy the Kid: the Endless Ride

Nonfiction by Michael Wallis, 2007.

Billy the Kid has been portrayed for over 125 years as one of the most savage killers in American folklore. But his legend was manu-factured to divert attention from larger societal corruption. 

Read by Ray Christensen. 10 broadcasts. Begins April 24.

 

 

 

Choice Reading   Monday – Friday 5:00pm

Love in Black and White

Nonfiction by William S. Cohen with Janet Langhart Cohen, 2007.

They are opposites in many ways – color, religion, culture, political leanings – but husband and wife, Bill Cohen and Janet Langhart Cohen, believe in the transcendent power of love, and the ideals of justice and equality.

Read by Malcolm McLean.  13 broadcasts. Begins April 3.

  

The Most Beautiful Day in 1961

Fiction by Ruth F. Brin, 2007.

On a beautiful Monday, six friends decide to take an outing on a cabin cruiser on the Mississippi River. But the mix of people has potential tension, as it includes two women who have loved the same man, and two men who are contentious business partners.

L - Read by Judy Woodward.  4 broadcasts. Begins April 22.

 

Dreaming in Libro

Nonfiction by Louise Bernikow, 2007.

Louise was an independent woman who had little time for pets. Then she adopted a dog and her character changed. Officially, she rescued Libro; the reality was the other way around. Read by Laura Rohlik.  6 broadcasts. Begins April 28.

 

 

 

 

PM Report     Monday – Friday 9:00 p.m.

Maxed Out

Nonfiction by James D. Scurlock, 2007.

Foreclosures are hitting record highs, and Americans are declaring bankruptcy at a huge rate. It’s a great time to be in banking!

Read by Susan Niefeld.  9 broadcasts. Began March 26.

 

Inside the Red Mansion

Nonfiction by Oliver August, 2007.

On a reporting assignment in China, and to understand the new China, August tried to find China’s most wanted man, a tycoon running from corruption charges.

Read by June Prange.  11 broadcasts.  Begins April 8.

  

Deep Economy

Nonfiction by Bill McKibben, 2007.

For the first time in human history, “more” is no longer synonymous with “better.” We need to move beyond “growth” as the paramount economic ideal.

Read by Doug Hartford.  10 broadcasts.  Begins April 23.

 

 

 

 

Night Journey   Monday – Friday 10:00pm

Dead Boyfriends

Fiction by David Housewright, 2007.

Mac gets jailed for stopping a rookie cop from roughing up a woman. He’s going to have to get his nose into a crime investigation that ends up being anything but straightforward.

V,L - Read by Del Adamson.  8 broadcasts.  Began April 2.

 

Interred with Their Bones

Fiction by Jennifer Lee Carrell, 2007.

Before a production of Hamlet, Shakespeare scholar Kate Stanley is told of a new discovery. Before it is revealed, the theater is burned and a body found.

L - Read by Nancy Felknor.  16 broadcasts.  Begins April 14.

 

 

 

 

Off the Shelf     Monday – Friday 11 p.m.

Out Stealing Horses

Fiction by Per Petterson, 2007.

A day when Trond was fifteen marks the beginning of a series of vital losses for both Trond and his friend, Jon.

L - Read by Scott Brush.  9 broadcasts.  Begins April 3.

  

The Sabotage Cafe

Fiction by Joshua Furst, 2007.

When Julia’s daughter Cheryl is sixteen, she reenacts her mother’s coming-of-age in her own rebellion.

L - Read by Sherri Afryl.  8 broadcasts.  Begins April 16.

 

The Indian Clerk

Fiction by David Leavitt, 2007.

In 1913, mathematician G.H. Hardy received a letter from an Indian claiming to be on the brink of solving the most important mathematical problem of all time.

Read by John Schmidt.  17 broadcasts.  Begins April 28.

 

 

 

 

Evening Odyssey   Monday – Friday Midnight

The Exception

Fiction by Christian Jungersen, 2007.

Two women who disseminate information on genocide receive death threats. Their first thought is that they are from a subject of their work.

V,L,S - Read by Neil Bright.  22 broadcasts.  Began April 2.

 

 

 

 

Good Night Owl    Tuesday – Saturday 1:00 a.m.

Blaze

Fiction by Richard Bachman, 2007.

Blaze is a slow thinker since he was a child and thrown down the stairs by his father. He escapes an abusive institution for boys, hooks up with a seasoned criminal, then is on his own to survive with more crime.

V,L,S - Read by Neil Bright.  11 broadcasts.  Began March 24.

 

Five Skies

Fiction by Ron Carlson, 2007.

Three men are in the Rocky Mountains for a dangerous summer construction project. The men are strangers to each other, each bringing aspects of his past into the mix. One man will triumph against his nature; another will not.

L - Read by John Mandeville.  9 broadcasts.  Begins April 8.

 

The Spanish Bow

Fiction by Andromeda Roman-Lax, 2007.

Feliu, studying cello, meets piano prodigy Justo and begins a lifelong friendship and rivalry. Through the Spanish Civil War and the World Wars, they clash over women, politics, and everything else.

Read by Laura Rohlik.  22 broadcasts.  Begins April 21.

 

 

 

 

After Midnight      Tuesday – Saturday 2:00 a.m.

Making Money

Fiction by Terry Pratchett, 2007.

Postmaster General Moist von Lipwig has exceeded all expectations with how well the Ankh-Morpork Post Office is running. So it is disconcerting when Lord Vetinari asks him to try to organize and run the Royal Mint, which has run for centuries on hereditary employment.

Read by Kim Miller.  14 broadcasts.  Began March 31.

 

Peony in Love

Fiction by Lisa See, 2007.

Peony is the cloistered daughter of a wealthy family, raised to be obedient. But she has ideas of her own. When she watches an opera with other women from behind a screen, she sees an elegant handsome man, and she is overcome with emotion.

S - Read by Sue McDonald.  13 broadcasts.  Begins April 21.

 

 

 

 

Chatauqua    Tuesday - Saturday at 5:00AM

All the Money in the World

Nonfiction by Peter W. Bernstein & Annalyn Swan, 2007.

Who are the wealthiest Americans? Sometimes fortunes are made and saved; sometimes they are squandered.

Read by Ray Christensen.  12 broadcasts.  Began March 25.

 

One Kind of Everything

Nonfiction by Dan Chiasson, 2007.

Poetry has become increasingly polarized into the confessional and the experimental. Can that chasm be bridged?

L – Read by Stuart Holland.  8 broadcasts.  Begins April 10.

   

 

 

Proust and the Squid

Nonfiction by Maryanne Wolf, 2007.

Cognitive neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf says the pre-literate brain is configured differently than the brain of readers. And the brain of those literate in today’s technology will be even more different.

Read by Leila Poullada.  9 broadcasts.  Begins April 22.

 

Abbreviation Code: V -violence

L - rough language S - sexual situations