HEARTS IN ATLANTIS

HEARTS IN ATLANTIS offers five novellas, each examining both childhood and the Vietnam War. William Hurt opens the series with a quirky and riveting account of a summer in the lives of three Connecticut children and the adults who influence them. His odd pauses and rushing narrative clearly portray the images of childhood, and the unsettling ways of grown-ups, as well. King takes over for the title story, about a game of cards in a college dorm. No one else could bring to life the University of Maine like this alum, and no one else could better vocalize the deep woods accents of some of its students. The author falls short, however, in his narration of "Blind Willie." Believable in Maine, he doesn't cut it in New York City. But Hurt is back for the closing segments, "Why We're in Vietnam" and "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling," notably more subdued in these accounts of adult pain and longing than in his exuberant telling of childhood tales. Well-chosen musical sound bites punctuate all five stories. R.P.L. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award © AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 00]