B IS FOR BEER

The cover of this audiobook reads "performed by Laura Silverman," as opposed to "read by Laura Silverman," for a reason: Her cotton-candy voice is full of almost-musical playfulness. It runs the danger of being cloying, but given the uniqueness of the literary device Robbins uses to tell the story, Silverman’s tone is strangely appealing: This is a "children's book" seen from the eyes of a precocious kindergartener named Gracie that uses beer as the universal metaphor for life itself. Although this is shorter than much of Robbins’s work, he hasn't lost his gift for astute, and somewhat mocking, cultural observations. For instance, this bon mot on the subject of golf: "Golf is like basketball for people who can't jump or chess for people who can't think." J.S.H. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2009]