The narrator is awful

What did you like best about Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers? What did you like least?

I love Robert Sapolsky and his research, but the narration of this book... I don't know, may be it would be appropriate in some provincial drama theater, but for an audiobook it's completely inappropriate. the narrator's voice rises and falls in volume 5 times per sentence, sometimes in the middle of the word, and as a result some words are too loud and the very next word you have to strain your hearing to understand. If you are driving, the quieter words are completely lost in the road noise, and you have to reconstruct them from the context. All that makes listening very stressful, which is very ironic considering the content. Someone needs to explain to the narrators like this that cheap drama belongs somewhere else, and in an audiobook that is frequently being listened to in places where there's a lot of ambient noise shouting one word and whispering another is not a good idea.

How could the performance have been better?

See above regarding the narration.

67 people found this helpful

Excellent and informative

This book was so good I got it in print. The print version has visuals that I missed in the audio version. The book isn't quite as good as his series of lectures- which I highly recommend. The lectures are a bit more personal and interesting. Also, this narrator's voice was a bit annoying. Sapolsky's own voice is much better. I would suggest you buy the lectures (search Sapolsky on audible) and get this book in print (third edition).

64 people found this helpful

Should have gotten the abridged version.

Narrator's voice was a bit grating, and most of the content was like a research paper until the end. Nevertheless, the overall message and leanings were good.

10 people found this helpful

Fabulous Book / LOUSY Reader

What didn’t you like about Peter Berkrot’s performance?

Exaggerated emphasis, stagey inflection. Berkot's rollar coaster reading is highly distracting, injects ambiguity as to the meaning of some sentences and ruins the enjoyment of the text. Half David Biencouli, half 1950's William Shatner-- NOT an appropriate voice for scientific material.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Not if Peter Berkot were narrating it. I've already purchased a documentary, based on Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, and Sapolsky is a far better better, more engaging interpreter of his work than Berkot.

Any additional comments?

Unfortunately, this is a prime example of a wonderful book ruined by a bad reading.I had read this book years ago, love the author, had heard Sapolsk lecture in person, and was really looking forward to what I thought would be a fun review of great material. But Peter Berkot's reading of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers wrecked my happy anticipation. Many scientific and historical authors make the rounds on TV talk shows or radio interview programs, giving their audience the opportunity to hear them read and/or discuss their manuscript in their own voice. Not all are scintillating lecturers, but they have an engaging enthusiasm for the material which sustains the audience, and which no grade C actor or professional reader ever manages to capture. Whether or not the author is "professional" in reading their material aloud, matters less than hearing the author's own intended inflection, emphasis and enthusiasm. A stagey reading by a professional reader, destroys the mood and introduces ambiguity, causing uncertainty as to the author's meaning in some cases.

39 people found this helpful

STRESS

Robert Sapolsky explains stress is related to the presence of glucocorticoids (steroid hormones) in the body. However, the meaning of “presence” is like the fable of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Like Goldilocks’ entrance into the bears’ house, glucocorticoids in the body can either be too much or too little. Glucocorticoid presence in the body must be just right to be good for humans. Being just right is dependent on the cause of stress, quantity of glucocorticoid hormones, and the effect of glucocorticoid presence in the body.

6 people found this helpful

A great pick!

I bought this book in an audible promotion- 3 books with 2 credits. And I am glad I did it. I loved Robert Sapolsky's style, his extensive research and the way he puts it into words and stories. I listened to it as a doctor and, wow!, there were many things I did not know about stress... The reading is easy, and very entertaining. Great book!

13 people found this helpful

Ack! Now I'm stressed about how stressed I am!

No, really, this book was extremely well narrated and very interesting. Makes what could be boring medical stuff fun to listen to. Some of us handle the stressors in our modern lives better than others and the author does give tips in the last chapter on how these people do it.

10 people found this helpful

Dissappointed

I have been an avid follower and listener of Sapolsky's work for over a decade. The book version is wonderful. Sadly, I downloaded the audible version. I couldn't listen to this narrator and will return. Anyone who has enjoyed Robert Sapolsky's fun and passionate delivery of material will have a hard time with the substitution of this narrator.

3 people found this helpful

Book and narrator terrible

Narration is uneven, loud and then too quiet. Story is too detailed and not on subject enough.

3 people found this helpful

the anatomy and physiology of human stress

The author provides a highly detailed and factual account of the stress response in humans. He leaves no stone uncovered all the way from how stress affects memory and physiology such as diabetes heart disease and even cancer, and Anatomy such as decreasing the size of part of the brain related to memory, the hippocampus. he even covers how stress can be predisposed in humans all the way down to their prenatal existence. He provides compelling research-based evidence for all of his claims. although a strong biological background would certainly help, a careful reading of this book can be practical for everyone

3 people found this helpful