John Lithgow reads Roald Dahl's “Taste”, and more.

In Vino, Veritas? is the title of Selected Short's current offering on public radio. Lithgow does a marvelous rendition of my favorite wine related short story. If you don't know the story, this is a great introduction; if you do, you'll find more in it than just reading it reveals. Lithgow is brilliant.

Raphael Sbarge reads James Thurber’s “How to Tell a Fine Old Wine,” a short piece that is hilarious in print, but less successful when heard, unless your French is really excellent.

Nonetheless, a very amusing hour's entertainment. The program notes:

SELECTED SHORTS’ long relationship with the Getty Center in Los Angeles was celebrated last season with a series devoted to “food fictions,” and from those programs come two delectable stories about wine. Roald Dahl’s quirky tale of passionate oenophilia at an elegant dinner party, and a high stakes wager, is as outsized in its way as the children’s books for which he is most famous Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach. Dahl was also a screenwriter and contributing writer to dozens of magazines including Harpers, Playboy and The New Yorker. His story “Taste,” is lusciously rendered by John Lithgow, himself now a best-selling author of children’s books, but best known, of course, as an award-winning actor whose many stage, television, and film credits include the series Third Rock from the Sun, for which he was a three-time Emmy winner, M Butterfly (Tony Award) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Tony nomination). Films include Dreamgirls, Kinsey, Terms of Endearment.

If wine drinking is perilous in Roald Dahl’s world, it’s hilarious in James Thurber’s “How to Tell a Fine Old Wine,” which purports to be a wine taster’s guide, but is really designed to skewer the pretentions of wine snobs. It was read by Raphael Sbarge, whose film credits include Independence Day and whose long list of prime-time television credits place him in edgy favorites like 24CSI.

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Isn't it wonderful how the Internet has made programs like this accessible to everyone at the click of a mouse button. I look forward to listening to it - when it finishes downloading. Thanks for posting.

OK, now I've listened to it. The first one, "Taste,” by Roald Dahl would be better to watch live - to watch John Lithgow's performance as well as hear the story. The story itself was a little long winded, to get to the point. I found it hard to concentrate on it - not really a story made for the radio.

The second one, “How to Tell a Fine Old Wine,” by James Thurber, read by Rafael Sbarge, was much more animated in its delivery. Livelier, funnier, good plays on words - and shorter! Better for radio.

Strange, I liked the Dahl better. I've read both several times, and the Dahl came alive for me for the first time.

But a very pleasant hour, nonetheless. Just right for driving around and doing errands.

Hope your summer is going well, Sue.

Regards, Bob