LARRY’S PARTY

In this chronicle of Larry’s adult life—from his first honeymoon to the first party he ever hosted—the cast include both ex-wives, his current girlfriend, his frank sister, and assorted males. The gentle, melancholy Larry specializes in creating garden mazes, a passion symbolizing his existential preoccupations. This prize-winning book belongs to the particularly Canadian genre concerned with wishy-washy losers, more insightful than most but no more consequential. Its watery blood gains considerable substance in the mouth of R.H. Thomson. His seemingly simple conversational reading is empathetic, engaging, masterfully understated, and, while never theatrical or flashy, intricate in the virtuosity of his technique. Every syllable tells. It’s like a pot of consommé, the delicate flavors of which dance in the pallet when just the right amount of narrator’s salt is added. Y.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 07]