The Beautiful Stories of Life

Rylant shares tales of Pandora, Persephone, Orpheus, Pygmalion, Narcissus, and Psyche in this collection. Blending the ancient flavor of these stories with an updated yet timeless sense of human nature, Rylant presents them as life lessons on subjects such as pride, curiosity, and revenge. Alyssa Bresnahan enhances the material with an understated narration that underscores the irony in these stories of godly and human downfall. With her knowing tone she places listeners among the gods, looking down on the fated humans below who cannot escape the foibles of their personalities or their fates. Bresnahan's solemn pacing and emphatic sentence endings make clear each story's message, allowing the tales to fully engage listeners of all ages. J.C.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine