Dinner With Churchill, Cita Stelzer, Audiobook Review

Title: Dinner with Churchill

Author: Cita Stelzer

Narrator: Davina Porter  

Publisher/Date: Blackstone Audio, 04/15/14

ISBN: 9780792797050

So, I have to start this off as saying that, obviously, Churchill is one of the worlds most interesting men of the modern age.  That being said, we have to take this audiobook to task for failing to deliver that in its narration.

The voice work was good.  Very good.  The choice of actress was wonderful - she has a very classic and upper class BRitish accent that doesn't abrade the way Margaret Thatchers did, for instance.  It is smooth, fully understandable, and enjoyable to the American market.

The quality of the recording is great, with the levels just right, such that it doesn't seem like someone is whispering into your ear, and it also doesn't seem like someone is yelling at you across a table.  This was a very well mixed production.  

I would, however, offer this criticism: you can very easily (which is distracting), hear exactly where the actress has come back from a break in reading.  The new paragraph jumps with a new inflection, or an energy that had waned in the previous one.  This is the first audiobook in which I realized this was happening, though in fairness, I was listening for flaws.  To be fair, though - I was listening to an advance copy that may or may not be how the final version will sound.  This very well may be fixed with the final release.

Back to the failure of the actual text.  I found the information on what was served, where it was served, and whom it was served to very interesting.  However, there was too little detail paid to the players at the table.  Not enough anecdotes, not enough history, and not enough background.  It was there, but I felt in short supply, when the amount of harvestable information is enormous.

I would rate this as a 5/10 - you are better served with another Churchill book - unless you just HAD to know what he liked to eat and serve, and how he conducted meetings and policy making through meals.  It’s interesting, but not interesting enough to me to recommend.