REPLAY

In Grimwood’s 1988 novel, a struggling radio journalist, Jeff Winston, receives the opportunity of a lifetime, or two perhaps, when he’s reborn after his death as a bright-eyed but very experienced 18-year-old. Narrator William Dufris’s skilled delivery of the fantasy of reliving one's life has just the right tone of wise hindsight. Dufris astutely conveys Winston’s complex emotions as he comes to realize that knowledge of the future is at once a blessing and a curse. With a layered tone, Dufris molds a character who understands what he must do to correct his past mistakes, but who seems doomed to fail no matter what action he takes. Through it all, Dufris injects a subtle questioning into Winston’s voice as he ponders—“Why me?" L.B. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2009]