JORDAN COUNTY

In 1954 noted Civil War scholar Shelby Foote wrote Jordan County, seven short stories set in a fictitious part of Mississippi. Locale aside, these stories are unrelated except in their backward time sequence, from just after WWII for the first story to 1797 for the last. All are worth listeners’ attention, if not always for their plots, then for Foote’s carefully crafted language and Tom Parker’s exquisite narration. Parker varies pitch; handles with fine discrimination a multitude of dialects and differences in education, wealth, and social class; and avoids overdramatization, doing all of it with seemingly effortless skill. He becomes the voices of the South and provides a strong accompaniment to Foote’s fine prose. T.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 03]