EVENTIDE

Nothing really happens in EVENTIDE, yet, somehow, the straightforward, no-nonsense conversations, the descriptions of the most ordinary things draw the listener in and won't let go. Haruf's writing, spare and lean as a Colorado cowboy, is partly responsible. However, much of the audiobook's charm comes from George Hearn's performance. Hearn adds just the right touches to define characters like the always sweet McPheron brothers; 11-year-old D.J., who's caring for his aged grandfather; three abandoned children who make themselves a home in a shed; and the mentally challenged parents whose children may be taken from them. In a cracker-barrel, good-old-boy delivery, Hearn slips in and out of the vastness of human loneliness, its capacity for love and grief--and its occasional stupidity. PLAINSONG fans are in for a treat. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 04]