POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE

Perhaps today's generation knows Jean Shepherd solely for the movie A CHRISTMAS STORY, which he cowrote from his own short stories, and narrated. We older folks remember that for some twenty-plus years he held forth on his own radio show. It is as a radio essayist and raconteur that we meet him in these eight reconstituted broadcasts, which are typical of his WOR, New York, heyday. He's like a cheerful, opinionated uncle, full of amusing stories, wisecracks, and opinions about everything, who just won't shut up at family gatherings. You either invite him because of his relentless gab—or in spite of it. Fans and detractors agree on this: he was, as evidenced in this sampling, inimitable. Y.R. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 08]