It’s been a big year here at "Bright Audio Industries"... launching a surprise attack of John Oliver’s “A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo,” casting new diaries and essays by Dr. Martin Luther King— and recording dearly-departed authors who changed my life, like Nancy Friday, and Midnight Cowboy’s James Herlihy.
But that’s not all...
I think the most profound productions I cultivated this year were not in the English language at all... READ ON! You can listen to excerpts on each link.
*In case you wonder what I’m talking about— I am Audible’s Editor at Large. It's a job of many hats, but it includes acquiring the rights to wonderful classics, originals, and new books that have never been performed in audio. After we work out the plan with the artist, then the casting and recording begin. I am only one among many who create each audiobook. It’s a pleasure to be intimately involved from the germination to the moment we press “play."
Susie’s 2018 Top 10
from The Bright List
Santa Cruz Noir, Susie Bright - editor
Starring: James Patrick Cronin, Richard Ferrone, Susie Bright, Beth Lisick, Liza Monroy, Bailey Carr, Florence Cuddihy, Dan Bittner, P. J. Ochlan, Jon Bailiff, Derek Stephen Prince, Eliza Foss, Almarie Guerra, Therese Plummer, and Michael Crouch
I got my start in audio, casting and recording short stories from my erotic anthologies. What a pleasure to create the same suspense, in an Akashic Noir mystery series.
My home town is Santa Cruz, and it was definitely time for our turn in the shadow side. After all, we were once the “Murder Capital of the World” -- but we’re more commonly called: paradise.
Each of the twenty stories, set in neighborhoods and surf breaks all over town, has a distinct and perfect voice fit. I couldn’t be happier.
Nobody’s Family is Going to Change, by Louise Fitzhugh
Starring: Bahni Turpin
Louise Fitzhugh was a genius at taking the viewpoint of youthful protagonists. “Harriet" in Harriet the Spy and The Long Secret, were so ahead of their time when I read them in the 1960s--who ever saw a girl protagonist like that?
When I grew up and discovered Fitzhugh lived as a lesbian in New York City in the heart of Greenwich Village in the 50s... it all made sense.
Nobody’s Family is Going to Change is her early 70s novel that no one knows about-- mind-boggling when you consider how well it holds up today. It’s about an upper-middle class African-American family on NY’s West Side. The parents are reeling that their two young children are complete gender misfits, who have no intention of falling into line.
Emma is fat, sick of being ribbed about it, and wants to be a fierce lawyer. She is appropriately rude, skeptical, and righteous as grown-ups fail all around her. Her little brother Willie has a definite “air” about him, and wants to drop out of school and become a tap dancer-- just like his gay uncle.
“Mom and Dad” are ready to lock them up and throw away the key, until they fall in line! This story has evergreen dilemmas and lessons for ANY age: Who can you change? What if your goals clash with your parents' -- or even the whole world's -- wishes?
Beyond lessons, Emma as a character feels so real, it's sheer fun to follow her secret plans for world domination. She's a heroine for *right now.* As she tells her mother, "I can and I will ... I can decide my whole life."
Bahni Turpin brings the vinegarred, chip-on-your-shoulder attitude of an adolescent girl fed up with her family. A-plus performance.
Gotham, by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace
Starring: Victor Bevine
Yes, this is the Pulitzer prize-winning history of New York City that redefines the City’s biography. Breathtaking!
At the top of my many time-travel fantasies, is the pre-settlement island that became Manhattan. Jacob Steendam's description, "Oh this is Eden!" barely begins to describe its clear rivers and seemingly boundless forests.
Burrows reexamines everything you thought you knew about New York City, from her original inhabitants living a cyclical, symbiotic, and nomadic life on the islands, to the origin myth of a "trade of land for a string of beads,”— to how it became the "greatest city in the world."
Narration is especially important for a book you’ll be spending hours with, and Victor Bevine never gives the lecture-hall vibe. He finds the rhythm and the humor where it’s needed. Really, my hat’s off to him. A masterpiece.
Season of the Witch, by James Herlihy
Starring: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
James Herlihy wrote Midnight Cowboy— which became a cinematic revolution in the 1970s. But Herlihy was a gay author, pre-Stonewall, who knew the South and Manhattan in equal measure. He knew all about “running away” and what it was like to set off for the great unknown in the mid-20th-century. Witches abound!
For a book that is so distinctly "of its time," the spiraling end of the hippie era, the performance of Sarah Mollo-Christensen is absolutely fresh. Her characters are distinct and heartfelt.
Her narrator, "Witch" never veers into parody-- even with vocabulary that describes angel-colored auras, peace marches, “Can you dig it?" and "Far out!" It sounds like she means it-- this ain’t no The Brady Bunch.
Anyone who appreciates a strong searcher off to find herself in the big city will love this.
Men in Love, by Nancy Friday
Starring: Tyler Ryan, Cindy Harden, Raquel Harris, Biff Summers, Kevin Frost, Phil McCracken, and Jean-Paul Mordrake
When I first worked as the sole-employee of Good Vibrations, we had a tiny bookshelf of “good” sex books. Women would come in and say, “Why do fantasize the way I do? Is it right? Is it normal? What if I’ve never had a fantasy, or even an orgasm?”
I would hand them the full trio of Nancy Friday’s erotic interview books. Nancy was truly one of the best interviewers and sexual interpreters who ever put pen to paper. A genius at it. When she died last year, I was stunned to realize that her gazillion-selling books had never been recorded. I knew why: the audio industry, pre-Audible, was so prudish they never would have recorded such frank and women-centric discussion.
If you listened to Secret Garden and Forbidden Flowers, you know how great they are. Did you know Nancy did a book about men’s fantasies, too? It’s not the usual laugh-and-a-wink— these men were so honest with her. Nancy Friday finds what men really think about — beyond judgement — in their erotic minds. It’s essential listening for understanding the American sexual psyche. The variey and skill of the narrators make the listener feel they are right there in the heads of all these men.
The Radical King, by Martin Luther King, Jr., with Cornel West, editor
Starring: LeVar Burton, Gabourey Sidibe, Cornel West, Mike Colter, Danny Glover, Wanda Sykes, Leslie Odom Jr., and Michael K. Williams
What an honor to bring King’s fiery, deep and truly radical thinking to Audible. This is the first time the MLK Estate allowed actors to interpret King’s works, and we dreamed big. It is even more transcendent than I dared hope.
King, to the un-initiated, was sometimes their go-to historical figure for simplistic love-thy-neighbor aphorisms. NOPE. Dr. West's book shows why King was such a threat to the establishment of the 1950s and 60s. Radical, revolutionary, and with a heart big enough to hold the whole world!
The all-star cast bring new perspective to King’s words. It’s surprising how the meaning can change when you don’t hear that inimitable vibrato.
Be sure to grab the free chapter with my favorite, Wanda Sykes, taking it to the limit...
La route de Chlifa, by Michèle Marineau
Starring: Maxime Dugas
More than 7 million people speak Quebeçois French in Canada— it's a beautiful, language and culture. What most outsiders don’t know, is that if the British conquerors in the 18th and 19th century had had their way, no one would be allowed to speak French, practice their religion, or thrive in their culture. The attempts to destroy their families and communities was brutal, must like what happened to the Metis and other indigenous people of the North. The prejudice against the Quebeçois, and the onslaught against their language, continued until the 1960s, when the “Quiet Revolution” turned the tables. —It really wasn’t that quiet!
To this day, language is still a battleground. Quebec thrives in its dramatic, cinematic, and storytelling traditions. They have fantastic radio programming. Their special insight into the geopolitics of the North, their science fiction and fantasy, their existential Catholic sensual perspective-- it’s unforgettable.
But you know what? NO ONE had ever recorded audiobooks of French-Canadian literature, the soul of Quebec, the novels, les histoires, the tales around the fire. Incroyable!
In 2017, I got to travel to Quebec and Montreal to talk to authors and publishers, in my terrible broken French, about the possibility of recording classic Quebec authors, with the province's finest actors, in local studios. Talk about a crazy idea— everyone wondered what cloud I’d dropped off of. Of course, there was a commercial interest, but the linguistic destiny of this project was not lost on me or anyone else— this is culture-changing.
If my linguist parents were still alive, I think they would be more proud of my work in this area than any other. I’ve produced 56 Quebecois audiobooks so far, and I hope those of you who love this part of the world, will savor each and every one.
Here is one of my favorites:
--Publié dans les années 90, La route de Chilfa est peut-être plus pertinente aujourd'hui que dans les années intermédiaires. L'histoire d'un immigrant et d'un réfugié, son intégration dans son nouveau pays, son expérience morale, et son chagrin. Il brûlent!
Raconté en trois parties, l'histoire fonctionne de l'extérieur dedans. Le livre commence du point de vue d'un camarade de classe de Montréal observant les ondulations faites par un nouveau gamin à l'école, Karim. Ensuite, une narration à la troisième personne des événements traumatisants au Liban qui ont chassé Karim de son pays, nous voyons ce qu'il fuit, mais aussi ce qu'il a laissé derrière lui. Finalement, Karim lui-même raconte qu'il a examiné sa blessure et qu'il a décidé de vivre pour ceux qui lui manquent.
Ceci est une histoire qui change la vie.
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, by Marlon Bundo, and Jill Twiss
Starring: Jim Parsons, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jeff Garlin, Ellie Kemper, John Lithgow, Jack McBrayer, RuPaul
What a whirlwind it was, readying this top-secret production for Audible!
When Jon Oliver’s show called me, I realized we were about to take the world by storm. At a time when LGBTQ rights are being assailed in the White House, Jon and his friends found a mole in their midst— Vice President Pence’s own pet rabbit, Marlon Bundo. Who knew he was the sweetest, littlest, gay bunny ever?
You recognize all the actors I’m sure— they had a BALL doing this.
Oliver is donating 100% of the book’s royalties to The Trevor Project and AIDS United.
Gasa Gasa Girl, by Naomi Hirahara
Starring: Brian Nishii
Japanese version here, narrated by Yoshi Amao.
Naomi and I became acquainted because she is a Santa Cruz local turned Edgar-winning novelist, and I was lucky enough to have her contribute a story to my collection, Santa Cruz Noir.
Our collaboration drew me to her remarkable series of California novels. I am smitten with her hero, Mas Arai: Hiroshima survivor, Los Angeles gardener, and super-sleuth. He is cantankerous, he is an immigrant and a survivor; and his grudging care for his son-in-law and estranged daughter take us into worlds I’d never seen.
Hirahara writes effortless mystery and has a distinctive perspective that I always look forward to hearing. Narrator Brian Nishii fully inhabits Mas's character. You are utterly convinced he IS Mas.
Praise Song for the Butterflies, by Bernice L. McFadden
Starring: Robin Miles
I've been waiting all summer for this release. Bernice McFadden is one of my favorite writers— she's a master of spare language; and the sharp detail that will unravel a tale as dark as any in the news. The image of a peanut rolling up to a yellow flip-flop, which then catalyses a dreadful action-- it’s burned into my mind's eye.
"Praise Song" is in the expert hands of audiobook star, Robin Miles. I can hardly think of anyone who could relate each character's flaws and troubles, as well as tenderness, with so much grace.
Maleficium, by Martine Desjardins
Starring: Danny Boudreault, Maxime Dugas, Martin Rouette, Patrick Baby, Sebastien Dodge, Annick Vermette, Nicolas Landre, et Thiery Dube
Dark erotic fantasies in the Quebeçois tradition of The Sacred Heart? Yes, please!
(I would like to state here that I did NOT censor the beautiful cover art for this audiobook, and I hope you’ll be able to enjoy a copy without the offending black bar!)
Cette orgie exquise des sens, sans aucune excuse, évoque "Le décalogue." Sept hommes racontent l'histoire de la sorcière qui les maudit - répandant des commérages malins - jusqu'à ce qu'elle ait elle-même un tour. Cela satisfait ma soif de fantasmes érotiques sombres, de changements de perspective narrative et de douce et douce vengeance.
Thank you to Willow Pennell, for helping prepare and write all these reviews.
