IRRATIONAL FEAR

With a charming twang, renowned storyteller Donald Davis delivers two improbable tales from his childhood. In both stories, Davis's mother is the victim of a practical joke but emerges as the victor. In the first tale, she apparently is able to summon (with her forefinger) the forces of the universe to exact retribution on our hapless narrator. In the second, she gets the better of her brother-in-law, who is cornered into buying a lavish present for the women of the family. Davis does not so much weave a tale as spin a web. Kids will be caught before they even know it. E.D.R. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2008]