It seemed to me that in the first hour or so of this book, the narrator *told* me how the characters felt. I had serious difficulty liking this book at first. Rated by the NY Times as the best American novel of the last 25 years, I decided to try *Beloved* by Toni Morrison. Does any one know why the producers of audiobooks allow authors to read their own books? I will guess that it all has to do with retaining copyrights and royalties by the author and the author's agent. So readers of this review don't think I am picking on Toni Morrison, Charles Frazier's self-read of Cold Mountain suffers from the same deficiencies. Unfortunately, Beloved is only available as an audiobook read by Ms Morrison. Frankly, Ms Morrison is not a professional reader and subscribers are cautioned to listen to the sample before purchasing this audiobook. There are no pauses between the paragraphs or shifts in the time periods. There is no differentiation in voice, so one doesn't know what character is talking or thinking. I cannot understand Ms Morrison's pronunciation of many of the words. This is the third audiobook I have purchased which is read aloud by its author, and it will be the last.

At worst, it is a distraction mobilized by political campaigns seeking to exploit age-old racial fault lines - a distraction that takes our attention away from the true threat to democracy posed by those who would dismantle voting rights, advance economic inequality and undermine the sustainability of our planet.I have just started listening to this book, and have decided that I will have to buy a printed copy and read its text concurrently while listening in order to make it to the end. At best, this resistance is as uninformed as it is passionate. In this instance, those who criticize “Beloved” and want to ban what they call critical race theory claim that any works addressing the country’s history of racial inequality and violence pose a threat to impressionable young minds. Public schools have emerged as contentious sites in this ongoing battle because they, along with the voting booth, have long been places where ideological battles over the myths and meanings of our nation have been fought. The history of slavery and its aftermath, which inspired “Beloved,” is directly related to examining the forms of systemic racism that inform every aspect of our society. The resurgence of opposition to “Beloved” coincides with the right wing’s assault on critical race theory and, more broadly, on any attempts to discuss structural racism in classrooms.

Beloved novel book buy