SELECTED SHORTS Wartime Lives

There is a measure of respectful awe in WARTIME LIVES, this anthology of short stories that focus on war. Kathleen Chalfont speaks like a paragon of motherhood as she reads the story of a WWI mother who crosses war-torn Europe to join her son in "Mother In The Trenches" by Robert Olen Butler. The other stories, recorded live and originally broadcast on public radio, are equally powerful. Dylan Baker reads Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried." Oskar Eustis, Ted Marcoux, and Ruben Santiago-Hudson also perform expertly, leaving no doubt why the collection was named a finalist in this year's Audies. The simplicity of allowing a gifted actor to read a well-crafted story is what makes WARTIME LIVES such a treasure. M.S. 2008 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2008]