JESUS OUT TO SEA

We’ve heard the stories, seen the video—but James Lee Burke's two stories about life after Hurricane Katrina, one the title story, are the best in this collection. Filtered through the magical talent of narrator Ron McLarty, they create a visceral experience of disgust and despair. Linked thematically, these accounts of life on the edge of vice, violence, and hopelessness are eventually uplifting in the glorification of the human experience. McLarty also exercises his acting muscles in two standout stories about threatened academics, “Winter Light” and “A Season of Regret.” JESUS OUT TO SEA adds to the celebrated canon of one of the nation’s best chroniclers of life along the Gulf of Mexico and the colorful characters who populate its sultry and sandy world. R.O. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2009]