DESTINY

Pretentious, talky, with an often confusing stream-of-consciousness style, Destiny demands more than many listeners may want to give. Basically, the story is about journalist Christopher Burton, who is now intent on writing a book on Italy though he lives with his Italian wife in England. Burton has despairingly stayed with his wife because of their schizophrenic adult son, but the son's opening suicide puts a whole new spin on Burton's thinking and his marriage. This occasionally fascinating (but more frequently boring) novel lessens the stunning performance of reader Michael Kitchen, who is little short of brilliant as he captures Burton's ruminations about a whole host of things, some past, some present, some future (and sometimes all within one sentence). Kitchen manages Burton's philosophies, his self-aggrandizement, his considerable inability to cope in ways that will make readers envision seeing a one-man play. This is, most likely, an audiobook better read than written. T.H. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/MAR 01]