THE ILIAD OF SANDY BAR & OTHER STORIES

Bret Harte (1836-1902) portrays the local color of the West in five humorous stories about miners, gamblers, crafty horses and other frontier inhabitants. Grover Gardner has a great deal of fun with his characterizations and imbues the voice of the narrator with the right amount of tolerant and amused detachment. He effectively differentiates among numerous character voices. The tape introduction and package supply no information about Harte, and listeners may be surprised by the author's racist comments about Chinese mine workers if they are not aware of the historical context. T.R. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 93]