From Book to New Audiobook

Gifted narrator gives chock-full-of-Eichler Reflections from a Glass House a refresh
By Adriene Biondo
Fridays on the Homefront
With the release of Carol Sveilich's new audiobook (above), now you can hear her recollections of growing up Eichler loud and clear with this narration of her marvelous 2020 book Reflections from a Glass House: A Memoir of Mid-Century Modern Mayhem. All photos courtesy Carol Sveilich

Ever wonder what it was like growing up young in an Eichler in the 1960s within reach of San Francisco, the then-psychedelic 'City of Love'?

Author and CA-Modern magazine contributor Carol Sveilich knows—and now you can hear her recollections loud and clear in the new audiobook release of her marvelous 2020 book Reflections from a Glass House: A Memoir of Mid-Century Modern Mayhem.

'Reflections' not only relives the era's music and pop culture scene, but also the author's humorous, and often tumultuous, coming-of-age adventures growing up in the Sveilich family's Fairglen/Willow Glen Eichler home in San Jose.

Want to meet Carol's party-loving parents; her brother, Harold; and her family friend Joyce, "the Eichler whisperer," who lured them west to the peculiar California home the Sveilich's purchased sight unseen in the summer of 1960?

  Fridays on the Homefront
Carol Sveilich with Reflections from a Glass House.
  

Perhaps it's time to let Carol's 'Reflections' bend your ear.

The audio version of 'Reflections' is narrated and performed by New York-based actor and singer Laura Patinkin, who has appeared on Broadway, and in the film Bad Education with Hugh Jackman and Ray Romano.

"Laura seemed perfect for narrating my life," Sveilich says. "Marsha Patinkin was the editor on my first book…and Laura turned out to be cousins of Marsha and [actor] Mandy Patinkin. When it happened, I thought, it couldn't be!"

"Laura was delightful to work with, and the feedback on her narration has been great," she adds. "The way Laura delivers the story, she paints a picture; you feel like you're with her."

Sveilich's goal in creating the audiobook is to reach a larger audience, "the people who like to listen to audiobooks in their car, on commutes, on trips, while making breakfast."

  Fridays on the Homefront
'Reflections' narrator Laura Patinkin. "The way Laura delivers the story," says Carol Sveilich, "she paints a picture; you feel like you're with her."
  

The author and narrator clearly felt a kinship working on the project. "Laura's from Chicago, grew up on the East Coast; my dad was from Brooklyn," says Sveilich.

Patinkin says, "Carol has an Eastern sensibility, because her grandparents were immigrants who lived in Brooklyn. And I'm a Jewish woman myself, so I felt a kinship."

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