Hero

This short motivational work by Byrne employs first-person testimonials to show how the principles the author espoused in her international bestseller, The Secret, have been put into practice by a dozen of the world’s most successful people. In this slick audio production, Byrne functions as narrator while 12 actors portray the book’s various rags-to-riches cast members. The success stories include Michael Acton Smith, the British founder of Mind Candy; John Paul DeJoria of John Paul Mitchell Systems hair products; Romanian-born beauty magnate Anastasia Soare; American football coach Pete Carroll; surfer-activist Laird Hamilton; and homeless-to-Harvard wunderkind Liz Murray. The most natural performance is by Kim Jackson, who portrays Australian surfer Layne Beachley; she is entirely believable in this relentlessly upbeat role. Kirby Heyborne and Moira Quirk turn in enjoyable performances as well, with Quirk doing a very competent Eastern European accent. Original music is interwoven between segments and at the beginning and end of each CD, its dramatic New Age sensibility counterbalancing the book’s otherwise buoyant mood. An Atria hardcover. (Dec.)