MY LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES

The stories Atlas tells us about life as a middle-aged man (in his case, one neurotically self-absorbed and tender of himself) are mostly commonplace or uninteresting; nothing in the writing or narration lifts them out of the ordinary. In an unprepossessing voice, he intones the material as if reading poetry, a manner that, even for poetry, is tiresome and inauthentic. As a further annoyance, the tracks are too long, their lengths dictated by their content, which should never be the case. The persistent listener will find humor and interesting observations eventually, but most of the time, if Atlas were telling you these stories in a bar, you'd invent another appointment. W.M. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE/JULY 05]