THE GOOD GERMAN

Stanley Tucci impersonates each character so convincingly that I checked the liner notes twice; I couldn't believe this was just one reader. He's a pompous American Congressmen: "Got a name, son?" He's a German policeman: "And zee Americahns are zo much bitta?" He's even a righteous fraulein in occupied Berlin: "I vas neva a Nazi! Neva!" The trouble here is that Kanon doesn't waste words, and his 482-page book, which would take at least 12 hours to record in its entirety, has been cut to 7. So the story, while comprehensible, is more map than countryside. B.H.C. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 02]