LAST TROUT IN VENICE

It IS possible to hear too much of a good thing. These tapes, for example, are fun in small doses, but you wouldn’t want to listen to them all at once. To his credit, Lansky says as much in his introduction. Lansky’s travel adventures--varied, fascinating, sometimes bizarre--range from mildly amusing to wildly funny. Amanda Karr’s narrative role is minor, but the addition of a female voice breaks the sameness. Paul Mercier’s delivery is appropriately comedic, although he occasionally overuses the pregnant pause, or raises the pitch of his voice as if to say, "Laugh now!" His narration is funniest when he isn’t trying so hard to be funny. This book will have adventurers and armchair travelers smiling, giggling, and laughing out loud. E.S. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 02]