On Dec. 22, 2020 Linda (Gorton) Aragoni (BA '70) reviewed Maeve Binchy's Tara Road completing her reviews of all 940 bestselling novels of the twentieth century at her blog GreatPenformances.wordpress.com.
Aragoni, who majored in psychology at Malone, spent most of her career writing instructional materials for adults and teaching nonfiction writing to adults. She didn't begin reviewing novels until 2007, when she started reviewing older fiction as a protective measure. Aragoni had started a website of resources and strategies for teaching expository writing to teens and adults. Because she had written texts in the sciences, technology, engineering, and medicine, she made English teachers nervous. Reviewing 20th century bestselling fiction was a way to assure English teachers she wasn't opposed to literature.
Aragoni's reviews have been profiled at 'The Committee Room.' For the last six years, Aragoni has provided 'Fine Books and Collections Magazine' with an annual look at the bestsellers of 100 years earlier. More recently, audiobook narrator Karen Commins has recommended GreatPenformances to other voice artists as a place to identify vintage works that could be turned into audiobooks for today's listeners.
Aragoni lives in Sidney, NY.
