CLOSING TIME

With sophisticated language and eloquent observations, the author remembers his family's poverty and his alcoholic father's cruelty. Juxtaposing his perceptions as both a child of the 1950s and as an adult long afterwards creates a listening experience both tender and compelling. Johnny Heller's raspy yet soft voice so aptly grasps the clever language and rhythm that no listener will feel, even for a moment, that Heller isn't Joe Queenan. His pace seems rapid at first as he pushes past the writerly phrases and metaphors. However, as the richly told story moves forward, Heller's tempo soon has the effect of facilitating the pleasure that audio readers search for in literature. More than just childhood memories, CLOSING TIME captures the attitudes and mores of a time gone by. J.A.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2009]