ZUCKERMAN UNBOUND

It's the late '60s, and Nathan Zuckerman, Philip Roth's alter ego, has just published CARNOVSKY, a novel about HIS alter ego. The book enjoys fantastic success. Can the overwrought Zuckerman, brimming with Jewish angst, enjoy his new fame and wealth? Well, there is the night of ecstasy with the beautiful actress who read Kierkegaard. On the other hand, there's the meshugener stalker, the ex-wife he still loves even though she refuses to reconcile, and--oy!--his family. It's all typical Roth fare, lean, ironic, funny, moving. The author is well served by George Guidall, who misses no nuance. If he errs, it's in failing to make characters as distinctive as is his wont. A quibble: I wish that the narrator and Barbara Rosenblat, who introduces each side, agreed on the pronunciation of "Zuckerman." Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 03]