SEEK MY FACE

A young journalist spends a day interviewing a 70-something artist in the latter's secluded Vermont home. On the surface, that's all that happens in this finely textured novel. Underneath, we get a wry history of postwar American art and a rich, understated drama of two brainy women developing an ersatz relationship through questions and answers. None of these values are particularly apparent in Kathryn Walker's interpretation. Despite her pleasant, mature voice and graceful cadences, she is hard to listen to because she reads the words but not the sense. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 03]