THE ESSENTIAL LEWIS AND CLARK

Portraying Meriwether Lewis, Peter Friedman reads his part with the carefully articulated, refined voice of a Southern aristocrat from Virginia. Friedman's performance embodies the cautious, thoughtful man to whom Thomas Jefferson entrusted the expedition. Portraying William Clark, Tom Wopat has the voice of an experienced soldier cured by the Western sun and beaten by prairie winds. Echoes of the regions through which Lewis and Clark passed seem to be reflected in his voice. Wopat's voice narrows and constricts with the excitement of each unbelievable new discovery and languishes when the expedition is held up by illness or interference from weather or Native American inhabitants. Unfortunately, this edition of unabridged selections is so select as to lack coherence. So much material has been eliminated in the interest of producing a pocket edition of one of America's most remarkable endeavors that the readings are mere sound bites. M.D.H. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 03]