Sartre in 90 Minutes

Neither a biography nor a systematic explication of the views of the famous twentieth-century French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, this production is an attempt to combine the two. And given the length of the program, the life and the philosophy of this iconoclastic thinker necessarily receive somewhat cursory treatment. British-born Robert Whitfield does a fine job with the material, speaking in a practiced, authoritative tone. He brings the right level of expression to the reading and handles the frequent French terms and names with aplomb. Some of the biggest ideas in modern philosophy are introduced, but listeners without much background in the subject may find the going a bit mysterious. M.G. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine