THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD

Ruby Dee transforms herself many times during her narration of Zora Neale Hurston's famous novel about Southern African-American culture in the 1930s. Some of the time Dee is Janie Crawford, the young heroine; at other times, she's an old woman, old man, or adolescent boy. Dee is marvelous in all the roles in this stage-worthy performance. She switches voices and dialects seamlessly, and she uses pauses cleverly, giving listeners time to understand the sometimes intricate dialects and mysterious images that Hurston uses. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/MAR 01]