A WILD SWAN And Other Tales

How should fairy tales sound? When it comes to Michael Cunningham's marvelous reimagining of 11 well-known stories, they should sound exactly the way Lili Taylor and Billy Hough deliver them. Their forthright, even cheerful, American tones as they alternate the delivery of each story lull the listener and magnify the inevitable surprise. Over and over, Taylor and Hough offer up the prettiest rose for us to sniff and at just the right moment, let the thorn prick us. Their pacing is immaculate. Cunningham's contemporary reconsiderations of these age-old stories include more wry humor and downright comedy than the originals. "Beauty and the Beast," for instance, becomes "Beasts." Yet they are just as morally profound, occasionally shocking, and enticing as the originals. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2015]