The Nathaniel Hawthorne Audio Collection: Unabridged Audio Cassette

From AudioFile
From the accompanying paperback to the folio of CDs to the wonderful writing beautifully read, this is lovely production. The collection focuses on what Paul Auster, in his thoughtful introduction, describes as "one of the least-known works by a well-known writer in all of literature." It's a delightful, often funny diary kept by Nathaniel Hawthorne about three weeks in 1851 that he spent alone with his 5-year-old son. The diary, entitled "Twenty Days with Julian & Little Bunny, by Papa," is followed by readings of three of Hawthorne's best-known stories, which were conceived around the same time as he kept the diary. Auster, the critically acclaimed author, is also a wonderful reader. No dialects and voices--instead, he reads his own introduction and "Twenty Days" with his trademark seductive voice and precise control. James Naughton does as well with the Hawthorne short stories. His careful pace and full baritone offer comfort during the stories' menacing passages. This is a class act. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Book Description
On July 28, 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne's wife left their house in Western Massachusetts to visit relatives. Hawthorne and his five-year-old son Julian stayed behind. How father and son got on together for the next three weeks is the subject of Twenty Days with Julian & Little Bunny, by Papa, a tender and funny extract from Hawthorne's notebooks, perhaps one of the earliest accounts in literature of a father caring for a young child.

Each day starts early and will be given over to swimming and skipping stones, berry picking and subduing armies of thistles. At one point Mr. Herman Melville comes over to enjoy a late night discussion of eternity over cigars.

With an introduction by Paul Auster, this delightful true-life story by a great American writer emerges from obscurity to shine a delightful light upon family life -- then and now. The collection also includes Hawthorne's short stories "Young Goodman Brown," "The Minister's Black Veil" and "Rappaccini's Daughter."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

On July 28, 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne's wife left their house in Western Massachusetts to visit relatives. Hawthorne and his five-year-old son Julian stayed behind. How father and son got on together for the next three weeks is the subject of Twenty Days with Julian & Little Bunny, by Papa, a tender and funny extract from Hawthorne's notebooks, perhaps one of the earliest accounts in literature of a father caring for a young child.

Each day starts early and will be given over to swimming and skipping stones, berry picking and subduing armies of thistles. At one point Mr. Herman Melville comes over to enjoy a late night discussion of eternity over cigars.

With an introduction by Paul Auster, this delightful true-life story by a great American writer emerges from obscurity to shine a delightful light upon family life -- then and now. The collection also includes Hawthorne's short stories "Young Goodman Brown," "The Minister's Black Veil" and "Rappaccini's Daughter."

Read by James Naughton.

FROM THE CRITICS

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