PLAINSONG

Tom Stechschulte’s voice is as plain as the wind blowing across the prairie, which suits this bestselling tale of life and unexpected loves set on the Great Plains. His uninflected delivery lets Kent Haruf’s unadorned yet powerful prose shine. Stechschulte’s use of real-time pacing and pauses during conversations increases the listener’s emotional involvement with the story. He varies his tone only slightly for each character rather than creating a different voice for each, but it works. His flatly Western accent suits everyone from teenage girls to middle-aged men in this Western Colorado town. A moving performance. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 00]