THE LITTLE BOOK

The amazement in Jeff Woodman's voice draws listeners into Wheeler Burden's chronological conundrum. In 1988, Wheeler experiences a dislocation in time due to a "catastrophic precipitating event." At the age of 47, and fully conscious of history's events, he is transported back to 1897 fin-de-siècle Vienna. The author’s nineteenth-century diction is pitch-perfect, and Woodman's performance enhances it, smoothly creating the artistic, intellectual Austria of the period. As Wheeler ponders his plight—aware that he has the power to alter history—Woodman portrays his confusion, his excitement, and his dark humor. Wheeler tells his story to Sigmund Freud, meets Gustav Mahler and a youthful Hitler, romances the woman who will be his grandmother, and discovers that his family's "lives weave together in a fatal and continuous and repeating loop." Wonderful storytelling, wonderfully read. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2008]