I AM CHARLOTTE SIMMONS

There's more than a touch of TOOTSIE in stage and film actor Dylan Baker's rendering of the speech pattern of the author's genteel title character, a vulnerable small-town girl from the Blue Ridge Mountains who descends on Dupont University, determined to make her mark. But the aura and the need for status overwhelm her as she is enveloped in the sports-obsessed, sex-pervasive realities of campus life. Wolfe's book runs nearly 700 pages, so an abridgment, even at the length of this one, necessarily eliminates most of the content. Still, a comparison of the book and CD indicates that the excising has been scrupulous, with an eye toward preserving the author's tone and story, as well as the often graphic language. Baker effectively conveys not only the downward spiral of the heroine but also the sliminess of the BMOCs she en-counters. As a bonus, Wolfe offers his perspective in a taped interview. M.J.B. 2005 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 05]