REMEMBERING

Andy Catlett's right hand has been cut off by a corn-picking machine. "Detached" might be a better description since the accident sends Andy into a state of general detachment and malaise. He travels to San Francisco to speak at a meeting of agricultural experts and as he roams the city streets at night, his missing hand becomes a portal into all things missing—love, descendants, and even the family farms that are being replaced by agribusiness. (The book is set in 1976.) There's a spirituality hovering over the proceedings and, like Andy's missing hand, it permeates everything without making itself seen. The audiobook's power has a lot to do with Michael Kramer's narration. Kramer reads as if he were painting, applying sentences like minimalist brush strokes. The result is a meditative, hypnotizing audiobook. R.W.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2010]