The Soul of a New Machine

Ben Sullivan does a solid job narrating Kidder's 1981 account of a team of engineers outside Boston who are designing a new computer. At the time, the book was considered groundbreaking reporting--now it recalls a long-ago time of "super minis," the size of a suite of kitchen appliances, when the internet was unknown. Kidder won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for patiently documenting how the engineers thought and interacted. Here, Sullivan enlivens the sometimes arcane engineering disputes. He has a strong, pleasant voice, and his pacing is good, and his delivery clear--although he sometimes mangles Massachusetts place names. Kidder's careful observations withstand the test of time. F.C. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine