Is it a good idea for authors to read their own books on audio? Not if the author has no performance skills! Some audios suffer from these narrationss, others are compelling enough to overcome a poor author reading.

This became clear to me when, in a short period of time, I listened to two audio books written by Eric Schlosser. The first, Fast Food Nation, was read by Rick Adamson (Random House, $29.95, abridged, six cassettes, nine hours). Schlosser's three year investigation of this industry could have been overwhelming, but his research is so well organized that it flows like a narrative. Shocking statistics are woven into tales about flavor factories, the history of fast food and meat packing, legal and economic implications of the industry, and scary stories about corporate irresponsibility. Adamson's reading made this a book successful on audio. He has a great sense of timing and treats the material with a storyteller's gift, putting dramatic emphasis in all the right places to create a captivating listen.

Soon after, I listened to Schlosser's Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Market (Simon and Schuster, $35.00, unabridged, six cassettes, nine and a half-hours). Again, Schlosser integrates personal stories, statistics, and fascinating events seamlessly, this time with a fascinating thesis suggesting that moral judgments be made about business practices rather than products. But this audio didn't engage me like the first, largely because of Schlosser has far better writing than narration skills. I did make it through all six cassettes, but without the same enjoyment.

Afghan-born author Khaled Hosseini is not a dynamic reader. His book, The Kite Runner (Simon and Schuster, $39.95, unabridged, eight cassettes, 12 hours), however is so engaging that it compensates for the inferior narration. It's the story of Amir, the son of a wealthy Afghan merchant, who constantly seeks his father's approval. Amir is comforted when disappointed by his father's young servant, Hassan who is loyal beyond compare. Hassan's also a Hazara, a shunned ethnic minority. Though the two boys shared the same wet nurse and grew up as best friends, at thirteen Amir cruelly betrays Hassan. He can neither forgive himself, nor stand the sight of Hassan and eventually causes his friend's removal. Thereafter Amir begins life as a coward. Years later, fate intervenes and gives him a chance to see truly, better understand his past, and redeem himself. Some of the Taliban scenes brought me to tears and the many threads are tied up in surprising and satisfying ways. While Hosseini is obviously comfortable with names and places and cares deeply about his material, but this riveting story deserved a more powerful reading.

Maya Angelou concludes her six-volume autobiography with A Song Flung Up To Heaven (Random House Audio, $25.00, unabridged, three cassettes, approx. five hours). The story begins as Angelou leaves Ghana to help Malcolm X build African-American unity in the United States. It ends with the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. when "the times were so solemn and the daily news so somber that we snatched mirth from unlikely places and gave servings of it to one another with both hands." All Angelou's stories are personal, whether she's grieving Malcolm X, plotting revenge for a former African lover who cheated on her, hanging out with her buddy James Baldwin, or finding the courage to begin her first memoir. Her way with words is amazing in writing and in delivery. She writes a strong story, then reads it with a rich, throaty, velvet voice that keeps listeners hanging on every word!