HOLDING ON

Ten short human interest features from documentarian David Isay’s brilliant series for NPR are packaged with artistry as a kind of extended episodic essay in sound. A theme of obsession versus entropy emerges in these profiles of American eccentrics holding on to chimerical anchors of one kind or another: the preacher who keeps a diary of every second of his life, the Orthodox Jewish congregation sticking it out in small-town Mississippi, the lady who lives on food stamps to support her bell museum, etc. Sounds depressing? It isn’t. Moving, yes. Funny, too. And fascinating. As much as possible, Isay lets his subjects (and the sounds of their milieus) speak for themselves, but when he must intrude, he shows himself to be a writer/observer of exceptional skill and sensitivity. On paper, this would be Pulitzer Prize material. Indeed, Isay has won the broadcast version of the Pulitzer, the Peabody Award, and may net a Pulitzer for the book that is being pub-lished to accompany this cassette. Y.R. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 98]