Younger Next Year

This book's energy consists of "the universe's four elements at work: sky, earth, fire, and young men." The Mann Gulch forest fire, which killed 13 smokejumpers in 1949, incites the author's fourteen-year investigation of the tragedy years later. The narrator's throaty voice (he's the author's son and a pastor's grandson) seems stiff. As the story unfolds in its roundabout way, his performance sometimes sounds like a taciturn minister's pulpit delivery.Yet, he reads his father's unconventional denouement, a sermon of curious metaphors on the ultimate meaning of the deaths, without even a hint of clerical passion. The sound of crackling fire in dry pine logs provides innovative chapter breaks. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine


Aging men unite--you now can look and feel younger, and have more fun, flexibility, and lovemaking in your life. The only catch, according to our authors, is the need for lots of work. Get out and work your body every day--revamp your diet, keep your mind active, challenge yourself. Some breakthrough health studies and medical facts are delivered by one reader while lifestyle pointers are delivered by his counterpart, a purring Lothario of the golden years, and a bit over the top at that. Nonetheless, YOUNGER NEXT YEAR offers a practical new health paradigm for aging men in this bright and lively recording. D.J.B. 2006 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine