THE PARISH PRIEST

This life of Michael McGivney, a nineteenth-century Connecticut priest who was founder of the Knights of Columbus and is now in line for sainthood, is almost hagiography. It is unquestioningly pious, obsequiously respectful. The writing and reading (by co-author Fenster) are of a piece: earnest, plodding, and sometimes maladroit, with inept word choices in the writing and wrong emphases in the reading. Fenster hesitates, stumbles, or tacks phrases onto seemingly completed sentences, many of which end with a misplaced rising inflection. In trying to vary her tone and lend it animation, she sounds like a Sunday school teacher trying to hold the attention of young students. W.M. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/ MAY 06]