Masterpieces of Adventure
- Author various authors
- Narrator Jack de Golia
- Publish Date 24 November 2020
- Run Time 4 hours and 53 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Anthologies: general, Fiction: general and literary.
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What to expect
Nella Braddy (1894–1973), a pioneer among female editors, compiled this seven-story collection and published Masterpieces of Adventure: Stories of Desert Places in 1922. It features seven authors: Egerton Castle, Stephen Crane, Selma Lagerlöf, Bret Harte, Thomas Hardy, O. Henry, and W. H. Hudson. It’s a stellar group.
Braddy went on to write and edit more articles and books, including two more in the Masterpieces of Adventure series, one focused on Helen Keller’s breakthrough teacher, Anna Sullivan Macy, and a biography of Rudyard Kipling.
Once inside Stories of Desert Places, though, listeners will soon realize that Braddy treats the idea of “desert” very loosely. Perhaps it’s about what’s in a protagonist’s mind or heart, rather than the actual setting of the story that Braddy felt evoked the idea of “desert.”
It’s left to us to find the “desert”—physical or metaphorical—of an eastern European castle on a snowy night, somewhere in the American West, Norway, early day California, a rainy night in England, in Texas near the Rio Grande, and Argentina. In these stories, people strive, often foolishly, and yet they persevere in unexpected ways.
Critics Review
“This far-reaching collection of short stories featuring desert settings contains some of the most engaging tales in the Western canon. The audiobook is delivered at just the right pace by Jack de Golia. Narrating energetically, he takes on the characters’ voices with a chameleon-like effect. His ability to inhabit the spirit and sound of the French, Spanish, and Russians, young and old, highborn and low, elevates these classics…Edited by Nella Braddy in 1922, these adventures have stood the test of time and keep the listener rapt.”
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