THE MARCH

Joe Morton's skills are tested in this outstanding rendition of Doctorow's novel about Sherman's march and the final months of the Civil War. Working by nuance and inflection rather than mimicry of voices, Morton handles a Chaucerian cast of types and individuals, fictional and historical, ranging from a hysterical Georgia dowager to an unflappable army surgeon, from plantation slaves and Irish immigrant soldiers to the president of the land. Their stories all voice the "sound of expectation" that the end of the war raises in every character. Morton's highly competent delivery may lack something of the urbane wit and playfulness of the novel, but he gives full expression to Doctorow's distinctive blend of period vocabulary and phraseology. Morton may be the one reader capable of rendering the full power and range of this complex and many-toned novel, and here he gives one of his finest performances. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 05/ JAN 06]