TRISTRAM SHANDY

Sterne's classic novel is marked by the driest of wits, an eye for human stupidities, and the author's willingness to meander away, following any seeming blind tangent that only he could weave into the fictional life story of the main character. Such a story requires a narrator who can communicate superiority and detachment, and John Moffatt does both. Moffatt is restrained, and, rather than trying to give each character a fully independent voice, he rightly allows the author's voice to color all. His pacing is first-rate, as he frequently slows to allow each of Sterne's pointed observations to sink in. G.T.B. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 05/ JAN 06]