EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED

The young American Jonathan Safran Foer has written a novel about a young American named Jonathan Safran Foer, who travels back to Europe to find the woman who may or may not have saved his grandmother from the Nazis. Confused yet? Fear not. There's humor here and a strong narrative. The book is written in two voices. Jeff Woodman is entirely convincing as Alex, the Ukrainian translator whose "fluid" English is touchingly enacted. "Grand-father toiled for 50 years . . . but now he is retarded." Scott Shina reads Safran Foer's magical fable about the shtetl in which everything but the horror seems slightly absurd. Imagine A HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE crossed with FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. This is a fine production of a challenging but gratifying book. B.H.C. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 02/ JAN 03]