Smiley’s outstanding new novel, second in a trilogy, is a panoramic story of twentieth-century America experienced through generations of an Iowa farm family. It cries out for a narrator with a finely tuned ear for different regional voices and a knack for distinguishing this large cast of characters one from another, especially since the listener lacks the printed family tree the hard copy provides. The fine comic actor Lorelei King is, alas, miscast here. Characters from East Coast to West all speak with King’s own non-standard pronunciation, and she gives her sentences a dozy rhythm, with a habitual breathy softening of the last word in a phrase or sentence that smothers the author’s meaning. This ambitious and impressive book deserves better. B.G. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
“One of my favorite places to take a little walk around is the public cemetery, which is on a little hill that overlooks the bay. And you know, if you ever wanted to be buried somewhere, that’s the place to be buried. And right across the street from it, and a little ways down the […]
This month we’re getting long-awaited sequels, the latest from a Nobel Prize-winning novelist, an ice-cold noir thriller, and a delicious contemporary reimagining of a classic Jane Austen comedy of manners. These are the books you should be pairing with your coffee, your commute, and your late-night “just one more page” protests all month long.
I engage in many forms of book nerdery, including book hoarding and keeping a running list of everything I read each year. Also, I’m a little ashamed to admit this, but I figure I’m among friends here: recently I’ve started awarding my own private book prizes each year. My book awards have none of the […]