ON THE ROAD
UNDERWORLD
By Don DeLillo, Simon & Schuster Audiobooks, 9 hours, abridged, $30. Read by Dennis Boutsikaris.
Nine hours offer a mere sample of DeLillo’s brilliant, 827-page book about America in the nuclear age. Though the eerie, transcendent prologue doesn’t come across as powerfully in the audiobook, the pace of the recording picks up with the introduction of Nick Shay, an idiosyncratic waste-management expert. Throughout, DeLillo’s craggy, unconventional dialogue proves its author an artistic master.
ATOP THE STAIRMASTER
HAVEN
By John R. Maxim, Nova Audio Books, approximately 3 hours, abridged, $16.95. Read by Dick Hill.
Heroine Elizabeth Stride disavows her past as an international assassin/seductress and retreats to Hilton Head Island to live incognito. Few characters escape stereotyping in this romantic thriller, from the shady Arab sheiks to the superficial Hilton Head lollygaggers.
OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE
By Perri O’Shaughnessy, Nova Audio Books, 3 hours, abridged, $16.95. Read by Laural Merlington.
Defense attorney Nina Reilly can’t enjoy a simple date with the district attorney–spent hiking up Tahoe’s highest mountain–without encountering dead bodies and evidence of ongoing foul play. The narrative frequently skids into predictability, doing little to distinguish itself in the already crowded genre of legal thrillers.
SANDBOX STORIES
WINNIE-THE-POOH
By A.A. Milne, Penguin Audiobooks, 3 hours, $16.95. Read by Charles Kuralt.
The Bear of Little Brain cavorts with friends and delights in balloons. Read by the late Charles Kuralt with the appropriate amount of mock gravity, Pooh’s adventures include attempting to look like a rain cloud to divert bees from honey, and kidnapping Baby Roo from his mother, Kanga, temporarily replacing him in Kanga’s pouch with Piglet.
THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER
By A.A. Milne, Penguin Audiobooks, 3 hours, $16.95. Read by Charles Kuralt.
Winter’s coming on, and Eyeore discovers that somebody has stolen his house made of sticks. “Quite between ourselves and don’t tell anybody,” he whispers loudly to sympathetic Christopher Robin, “it’s cold.” Led by Pooh Bear and Piglet, Eyeore’s cohorts conspire to provide him with shelter. Kuralt excels at portraying melancholy Eyeore and ebullient Tigger.
