AUGUST 2020 - AudioFile
This audiobook captures the timelessness of this novel, originally published in 1965. Jay Smooth’s performance is excellent, often as lyrical as the music explored in the plot itself. In a compassionate yet authoritative tone, Smooth leads the listener through Ludlow Washington’s early musical life, beginning with his abandonment at a school for the blind and traversing his burgeoning career on the jazz stages of America. Smooth’s depiction of dialogue is especially animated and engaging, with each voice projecting its own personality. Touching upon topics of race, disability, neglect, and love, this audiobook is made even more relevant by Smooth’s relatable performance and timing. The novel itself can drag at times, but Smooth’s narration is likely to maintain the listener’s patience. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Library Journal
Kelley here offers the story of Ludlow Washington, a blind African American orphan who grows into a renowned jazz musician. Physically unable to distinguish the difference between black and white, he nonetheless learns the meaning of racism. LJ's reviewer commented that Kelley's "stylistic triumph is that he makes it considerably more than a story about jazz, Negroes, and the fringe of society. On any level, this is quite an achievement" (LJ 3/15/65). nonfiction
From the Publisher
"A Drop of Patience is a moving, painful, and stinging experience." —The New York Times Book Review
"William Melvin Kelley . . . brought a fresh, experimental voice to black fiction in novels and stories that used recurring characters to explore race relations and racial identity in the United States." —William Grimes, The New York Times
"[A] stylistic triumph . . . considerably more than a story about jazz, Negroes, and the fringe of society. On any level, this is quite an achievement" —Library Journal
AUGUST 2020 - AudioFile
This audiobook captures the timelessness of this novel, originally published in 1965. Jay Smooth’s performance is excellent, often as lyrical as the music explored in the plot itself. In a compassionate yet authoritative tone, Smooth leads the listener through Ludlow Washington’s early musical life, beginning with his abandonment at a school for the blind and traversing his burgeoning career on the jazz stages of America. Smooth’s depiction of dialogue is especially animated and engaging, with each voice projecting its own personality. Touching upon topics of race, disability, neglect, and love, this audiobook is made even more relevant by Smooth’s relatable performance and timing. The novel itself can drag at times, but Smooth’s narration is likely to maintain the listener’s patience. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
