FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES

When the listener learns that Korean-American Casey Han carries a copy of George Eliot's MIDDLEMARCH around in her bag, it become clear that this is more than "chick lit" about a career girl in the big city. Suddenly, the jobs, clothes, and lifestyle Casey craves represent issues of class and assimilation. Shelly Frasier's adept reading of this thoughtful audiobook eloquently raises questions about American social strata much in the way Eliot's work did in nineteenth-century England. Casey is a well-educated girl from a modest immigrant family who is constantly aware of the cultural differences that comprise her life. Frasier keeps Casey honest with her no-nonsense performance. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 07]