A Crack in the Edge of the World

Early on April 18, 1906, the San Andreas fault ruptured in an earthquake measuring 8.25 on the Richter scale. San Francisco was destroyed--first by shakes and then by fire. Simon Winchester lays out extensive history, geological background, and some pointless personal road trips before embarking on an account of the actual 'quake. He sounds like your favorite professor--mostly interesting but occasionally a little dull. The strength of his book is its oral history, which mostly translates well to audio. However, Winchester's reading is a bit uneven; his American accents are sometimes wobbly, and his pace is almost breathless. (Do Californians really speak this quickly?) Yet when he drops the accent, he is wonderful. A.B. 2006 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine