(Read by Wendell Pierce; Penguin Audio; 9 CDs; 11.5 hours; $40)
Actor Wendell Pierce was in New Orleans visiting his parents as Hurricane Katrina decimated the city. Pierce helped them rebuild and stayed to film the show "Treme" and later staged 鈥淲aiting for Godot,鈥� in the devastated Lower Ninth Ward. Pierce's descriptions of the destruction of his parents鈥� home on Lake Pontchartrain are especially touching, but he spends more time discussing his career and religion than one would expect from the title. A seasoned actor, Pierce has a commanding voice, but here he sounds a bit too stagey and occasionally overly dramatic. This is two books forced into one space, and the sections devoted to New Orleans are the more interesting.
Grade: B
