Here are brief reviews of recently released audio books:
"A Day Late and a Dollar Short," by Terry McMillan, read by the author, Alfred Woodard and Richard Allen (Penguin Audiobooks, four cassettes, 6 hours, abridged, $24.95).
This story of a dysfunctional family, told from each member's point of view, is perfectly suited for audio.
Terry McMillan, best-selling author of "Waiting to Exhale" and "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," introduces the reader to Viola Price, her wayward husband, Cecil, and her four grown-up children, who are scattered across the country. The three narrators vividly portray each of the characters. But with so many points of view to explore and develop, the story line suffers and ultimately bogs down.
"Talking Dirty Laundry With the Queen of Clean," by Linda Cobb, read by the author
(Simon & Schuster Audio, one cassette, one hour, unabridged, $12).
She sounds like a "Saturday Night Live" comedy shtick, but the Queen of Clean is perfectly serious. Her book is full of tips and quips about laundry. Did your dryer get messed up by a melted crayon or lipstick? Use WD-40 to wipe it clean. With some simple maintenance, you can cut down on your utility bills and get your clothes cleaner. Cobb first started sharing her cleaning tips in a weekly newspaper column in Michigan, where she owned a cleaning business.
She now lives in Arizona and continues to make radio and TV appearances around the country. A good read for those who are serious about laundry. But it's also fun to imagine Mike Myers in the role of "Queen of Clean."
"I'd Rather Laugh: How to be Happy Even When Life Has Other Plans for You," by Linda Richman, read by the author (Time Warner Audiobooks, two cassettes, 3 hours, abridged, $17.98)
Linda Richman is the real woman who inspired Michael Myers "Coffee Talk" shtick on "Saturday Night Live." In fact, she's his mother-in-law. In her memoir, she's got a lot to talk about and not much of it is funny.
She talks about her pathological relationship with her nutty, emotionally abusive (and now deceased) mother.
For instance, she refused to tell Richman, who was 8 years old at the time, that her father had died, instead telling her he had just left home and wasn't coming back.
Richman also talks about her battle with agoraphobia, which kept her homebound for 11 years, and about the accidental death of her 29-year-old son.
On audio, she sounds exactly like the Mike Myers character, minus the fractured Yiddish.
And her smile-through-the-tears spunky attitude is mixed in with some hard-won counsel.