ALL THE KING’S MEN

Robert Penn Warren’s Pulitzer Prize-winning fictionalized account of Louisiana Governor Huey Long transfers well to audio. Michael Emerson’s performance brings the characters to life with verve and personality, especially that of Willie Stark, the book’s central character, and Jack Burden, Stark’s idealistic right-hand man and the novel’s narrator. Through a mix of understatement and intensity, Emerson clearly conveys the political turmoil underlying the book; his performance perfectly complements the story, which is as timely as it was sixty years ago. Some have called ALL THE KING’S MEN “the definitive novel about American politics,” but it is more. It is also an American tragedy. Emerson’s reading does justice to a great work. D.J.S. 2007 Audies Award Finalist © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 06]