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AudioFileDecember 4, 20242 min read
AudioFile’s 2024 Best Biography & Memoir Audiobooks allow listeners windows onto the lives of others. The performers are perfectly in sync with the text, whether they’re professional narrators or the (rather famous) authors themselves.
James Kaplan by 3 SHADES OF BLUE: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool
Read by Dion Graham
[Penguin Audio | 14 hrs.]
This absorbing audiobook looks at the lives of three jazz greats—Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans. Their lives were challenging and full of pathos, which narrator Dion Graham captures with the empathy and vocal talent he’s known for. Pauses, pitch patterns, and finely modulated intensity make his performance sing but never upstage the drama.
BITS AND PIECES: My Mother, My Brother, and Me by Whoopi Goldberg
Read by Whoopi Goldberg
[Blackstone Audio | 6.5 hrs.]
Entertainer Whoopi Goldberg’s raspy timbre and amused tone make her the only person appropriate to narrate her memoir. As listeners hear just a trace of a New York City inflection at the ends of some sentences, the story of Goldberg’s career is skillfully woven into anecdotes featuring her exceptional mother, Emma Johnson, and her unique older brother, Clyde.
BITTER CROP: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday's Last Year by Paul Alexander
Read by Maya Days
[Random House Audio | 12 hrs.]
Performing this revealing look at the complexities of the revered jazz pioneer Billie Holiday, actress Maya Days connects with every ounce of the brilliance and tragedy of the singer’s life. Her heartfelt resonance with Holiday’s difficult life makes the author’s evocative writing riveting.
JOHN LEWIS: A Life by David Greenberg
Read by David Sadzin
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 24.5 hrs.]
John Lewis has been described as a quiet revolutionary and the conscience of Congress. This sums up the two halves of this biography, which covers his early years as a frontline civil rights campaigner and his later years as a driving force on Capitol Hill. David Sadzin’s smooth narration adds to the compelling nature of the text.
PROFILES IN MENTAL HEALTH COURAGE by Patrick J. Kennedy, Stephen Fried
Read by Johnny Heller, Patrick J. Kennedy
[Penguin Audio | 10 hrs.]
Johnny Heller’s moving performance of this excellent audiobook is never out of sync with the shifting moods and overall poignant content offered by the articulate congressman and his cowriter. The authors recount the stories of 12 prominent people with psychiatric disorders as they struggled to manage their symptoms, seek help, and integrate their conditions with their work and personal relationships.
WHAT I ATE IN ONE YEAR by Stanley Tucci
Read by Stanley Tucci
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 7.75 hrs.]
A nuanced narrator who plays with tone and tempo like a jazz musician, Stanley Tucci knows how to be ironic, self-effacing, witty, and charming, yet his performance is most satisfying because of his restraint. Tucci is a creative gourmand who is mischievous (he whispers his preparation of pigeon breasts) and masterfully ends each section with suggestions, recipes, appreciations, and observations.
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