THE DUCK COMMANDER FAMILY: HOW FAITH, FAMILY and DUCKS BUILT a DYNASTY by Willie and Korie Robertson with Mark Schlabach



A Review of the Audiobook

Published in 2013 by Simon and Schuster Audio.
Read by the authors, Willie and Korie Robertson.
Duration: 5 hours, 50 minutes
Unabridged

Part of a flock of books from the Robertson family (excuse the pun), this book by the CEO of the family businesses (Duck Commander and Buck Commander), Willie Robertson, and his wife, Korie, looks at how they both got to where they are now and what life is like among the Robertsons.

The book focuses on the much more interesting story of Willie's family, which is appropriate considering their prominence in the hit reality TV show Duck Dynasty. If you have never seen the show, this book will be of little interest to you. I have seen a few episodes, but my carpool partner, my high school-aged daughter, is a fan of the show and has watched multiple seasons. She picked this audiobook for us to hear in the car during our morning commute.



Willie Robertson in 2015. Photo by
Gage Skidmore.
Willie Robertson relates his family's story, starting with his parents and his father's early financial and personal struggles. This is quite interesting and inspiring and takes up approximately the first one-third of the book. Willie and Korie alternate in telling about how they met and their family life. Of course, their religious faith features prominently throughout, including Bible verses that match the theme of the chapter.

The fourth disc of this 5 CD set basically talks about the Duck Commander business and how a series of low-budget duck hunting shows sold on VHS evolved into the Duck Dynasty TV show. He also talks about how their family business really is a family business - many family members and family friends work there.

The last disc tells about how he broadened Duck Commander into the deer hunting business with Buck Commander. Willie tells about baseball players that have appeared in his hunting videos and how he has appeared with various country music stars on stage. The last disc was a difficult listen because I am not a baseball fan or much of a country music fan and, despite Willie's protestations to the contrary as he read, it really was a whole lot of pretty boring name dropping.

At the end of every chapter is a recipe that Willie and his family love. Listening to people read recipes is tedious, at best. If I were the publisher, I would have considered leaving out that part of the text and including the recipes in an insert inside of the box with the CDs. After a while we just skipped over the recipes.

Willie and Korie Robertson read the audiobook. Willie was pretty good, Korie was adequate. It made sense for them to read it, though, since it is told in a first-person voice.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5.


This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Duck Commander Family: How Faith, Family and Ducks Built a Dynasty.

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