OLD FRIENDS

Tracy Kidder cast his eye on another facet of American culture. For this study, he interviewed the residents of a nursing home in western Massachusetts, concentrating on two old men, Lou and Joe, and their relationship with each other and their declining health. The reader is excellent, both with narration and with dialogue. His voice gives Lou a quiet, sensitive, yet formal, quality while Joe is given a rougher, humorous, more garrulous tone. All the characters come to life, and more than once that life ends in death. The production values are good although some variations of sound level occur between tapes. E.F. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPT 94]