Every element of great drama--tragic deaths, titanic greed, a flawed hero--already existed in Jonathan Harr s A Civil Action. John Shea s reading provides the finishing touch: a great voice. Shea, an Obie Award-winning stage actor, is probably best known for his roles in a handful of films in the 80s, including Missing and Windy City. His smooth, disciplined reading guides us through some of the book s heavy traffic--lots of medical information, many characters with complex backgrounds, multiple carcinogenic chemicals--without for a second allowing us to get lost in those details. We never forget we re heading toward one of modern journalism s great clashes of good and evil, and even if we know in advance which side wins, the narrative path to that conclusion is always riveting. (Running time: 4 hours, 4 cassettes)

喬納森·哈爾(Jonathan Harr)齣生於美國威斯康星州貝洛伊特市，現居馬薩諸塞州的北安普頓。他曾任《新英格蘭月刊》（New England Monthly）的特約撰稿人，現為《紐約時報雜誌》（The New York Times Magazine）和《紐約客》撰稿，同時在史密斯學院教授非虛構類作品的寫作。他曾多次獲得文學類和報道類奬項，包括美國調查記者編輯協會奬。

哈爾曆時8年調查寫齣的作品《漫長的訴訟》（A Civil Action）在1995年齣版後被提名美國國傢圖書奬，並最終獲得瞭美國國傢書評人協會奬（非虛構類）和美國律師協會最高奬銀錘奬，該書還被哈佛大學、耶魯大學等五十多所知名大學的法學院列為必讀圖書。該書改編的同名電影由約翰·屈伏塔和羅伯特·杜瓦爾主演，於1998年上映並獲得瞭兩項奧斯卡奬提名。2005年，哈爾撰寫瞭暢銷書《消失的畫》（The Lost Painting）。