SELECTED SHORTS Food Fictions

[Editor’s Note: The following is a combined review with SELECTED SHORTS: TRAVEL TALES.]--Well-known actors read short stories in front of appreciative audiences at New York’s Symphony Space in the long-running public radio series “Selected Shorts.” Seasoned performers spurred to do their best by the combination of good writing and live audiences are irresistible. Thankfully, Symphony Space has been publishing anthologies culled from the broadcasts for some time. These two are unified by the themes of food and travel. Joanne Woodward, John Lithgow, Christina Pickles, and others read works by Chekhov, T.C. Boyle, Nadine Gordimer, and other authors, serious and comic. The humorous pieces are particularly enjoyable because of the palpable synergy between narrator and laughing audience. But all are enjoyable and satisfying. Y.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 07]