CORK BOAT

John Marosz gives the most skillful and sympathetic reading imaginable to this true story, in which a political speechwriter quits his job to realize a childhood fantasy of building a sort-of usable boat out of wine corks. That this is an obsessive and deeply personal quest does not, regrettably, give it a point or make it much fun, apart from the ingenious solving of the problem of holding the corks together, and that is pretty much finished by tape 2. The author's self-absorption, his constant fights with his chief collaborator (from which he learns nothing), and, above all, the wearyingly repetitive writing do not make for the triumph of whimsy promised by the jacket, except perhaps for the author. B.G. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 04]