The Autumn Balloon By Kenny Porpora snagged my attention because its simply told.

Whenever I sit in a writing class, and it's even in the beginning writing classes, I hear the same thing over and over again. The chant is one that drills it's way into our brains, those of us who peck out letters on a keyboard for a living. We're supposed to spill our souls.. when writers do that, however, they feel as if everything needs to be poetic. Sometimes, less is more, and thats what The Autumn Balloon By Kenny Porpora demonstrates. It's a simple book that details more than any metaphor could.

I've finished it today. It took me a minimum of two days to listen to the whole book because I just couldn't put down the book. I wanted to stay with this wacky and loving family until I grow older than dirt.

The book details the hard life of gay New York Times writer Kenny Porpora. It follows the arc of a traditional memoir. The reader glimpses snapshots of his life and rides the journey with him as things happen to him but the way this is a brilliantly told memoir is how it is told, rather than what is told.

Voice is important in writing. Many people wonder about the technical aspects of writing but often forget to develop their voice. Kenny lets his voice flow through the pages in straight prose and dialog thats just so ordinary, it felt as if I were observing everything beside the author. Indeed,

there are no deep thoughts, none that go on and on for pages and pages about the complexity of life. The power behind these sentences is, indeed, their length and conversational style.

You simply have to experience this story to appreciate it. So many people try and expand on a thought or an idea. The fact that these sentences are so ordinary it could be a conversation someone overhears in a park, speaks volumes.

The audiobook is an added bonus. The performance drives home so many emotions in these short sentences and basic description. I'd normally say that the audiobook and the print book are equal but, in this case, the audiobook enhances the story in a way that print readers are left behind.