Jeff Porter

This is a thesis or dissertation...I don't know what the confusion seems to be for other readers as the author explicitly states this at the beginning. As such, I wasn't really off-put as other readers seemed to be...I have started realizing I do like reading slightly more academic theses-to-books like these. This is not a comprehensive reminiscence of old-time radio shows. It covers a few big personalities, audio techniques, a good dose of theory and philosophy behind the medium, and a few of the game-changers that brought radio programming to a new level. As a young-un, I don't really have a context or knowledge of radio broadcasting apart from a basic knowledge of Fireside Chats and War of the Worlds, so I really got a lot out of this. And as someone with a very amateur interest and knowledge base in audio production, I really dug the discussions on the theoretical/historical context of radio programming. The chapter on women in radio was particularly astounding. (Long live Agnes Moorehead.)

I do wish the audio recording of this had a different reader and that it took a Naxos "Life and Works" series approach, incorporating the actual broadcasts. As it is, I would be interested in tracking down a hard copy of this so that I could possibly seek out the referenced material on my own.… (mais)

My apologies to Ann Hood, who wrote that this would grab everyone who reads it. It did not. At least not this reader. It felt like I was trudging through a huge mud puddle trying to get to the other side. I mean no disrespect. The death of a spouse is devastating, to say the least. The authors deep thoughts were too much for me. It was probably cathartic writing down all those memories and am happy for him if it helped to process his grief. To be fair, I am not a huge fan of memoirs so this is on me.
I won this from LibraryThing giveaway for an honest review - thank you! 2.5 stars… (mais)