SAD TRUTH ABOUT HAPPINESS

On a lark, Maggie, a sensitive 32-year-old Canadian mammographer, takes a longevity quiz that predicts she will die in 90 days. Startled and alarmed, she launches into a penetrating philosophical self-investigation, which she shares with the listener for the better part of three-and-a-half abridged hours. As Suleka Mathew plays her here, Maggie seems over-earnest and anemic. The ancillary characters have far more élan. To her credit, Mathew strives for dimensionality and compassion. Listening to her, one imagines rose petals falling on harp strings. She hasn't the technique to ace the author's many lengthy sentences, which she circumnavigates in a near monotone. And her lack of vocal range makes her otherwise attractive voice sporadically irritating. Y.R. 2007 Audies Award Finalist © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 06]