THE THING ABOUT LIFE IS THAT ONE DAY YOU'LL BE DEAD

Shields's book gives numerous facts, statistics, and quotations about birth, the body, growth, and death, many of them interesting. But they only serve as entrées to his real object of fascination: himself, and his mostly uninteresting life. Don Leslie does an admirable job, reading expressively; varying the pace; and varying the tone of his deep, slightly gravelly voice to indicate different speakers, scenes, levels of intimacy. Only rarely does he bobble a pronunciation or pick the wrong tone. But even he can't make a silk purse out of this self-absorbed sow's ear, by turns pointless, embarrassing, or maddening. In the midst of yet another witless anecdote, Shields says, "Who cares? I do." Yes, but few others will. W.M. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2008]