Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?

By: Avi

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman

The radio culture of World War II America comes alive with this mischievous tale of two best friends who - inspired by the Lone Ranger, the Green Hornet, and the Shadow - set out to right the wrongs of the world. Jeff Woodman’s delightfully funny narration is reason enough to listen to this book!

©1992 Avi (P)1993 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"[Narrator John Randolph] Jones, as the voice of the radio, and Woodman, as the voices of Avi's characters, bring this poignantly humorous book to life for a generation with no experience of listening to stories on the radio.... This audio presentation is a perfect marriage to the literature and succeeds brilliantly." (AudioFile)

Excellent narration but the protagonist could “tire a dead man.”

Jeff Woodman and John Randolph Jones provide spectacular performances as the cast and the "radio," respectively. Woodman's ability to provide each character with a unique tone and Jones' nostalgic homage to radio programs of the past make the story come alive for listeners. The only issue with the performance is that, unlike the classic radio programs presented here, there are no sound effects or a musical score to enhance the world Woodman and Jones create. As for the book's plot, the protagonist (Frankie) is exacerbating even for a children's story. An overactive imagination enhanced by a truly unbelievable obsession with radio leads our hero and his sidekick, Mario, into increasingly ridiculous scenarios. The pay-off of his plans, along with most of the loose threads of the work, is quickly jammed into the final chapters. At the same time, listeners spend most of the work listening to him aggravate his teacher or torture a medical student tenant living with his family. The only break from Frankie's fantastical statements and schemes comes from snippets of radio programs from The Lone Ranger to Flash Gordon. It is a beautiful introduction for children to a bygone form of media, but the protagonists' actions are not something a parent would ever want a child to mimic.

Revisiting books from my childhood.

I remember reading this book probably in like... 5th grade? Well, it's been almost two decades since then and for some reason I thought of this book and decided to give it a re-read since I found the "Only dialogue" based writing very interesting. Surprisingly, this book holds up. It's rather funny and charming, with he narration contributing a lot of fun to the book. Definitely a fun book.