SONGS IN ORDINARY TIME

Although Sam Fremoil is a failure as a husband and a father, his alcoholic antics dominate the lives of his three adolescent children and their mother through shame and disappointment. The novel, chosen for Oprah's Book Club, portrays life in a small town in the summer of 1960. Sandra Burr races through the first cassette at marathon speed, leaving the listener with a blur of angry characters and hurried exposition. She reaches her stride in the second cassette, and only then does one appreciate her gift for mimicry and character creation. There is a sameness about her reading, and her pleasant voice neither creates atmosphere nor alters surroundings. Ignoring the author's intentions, she speaks the dialogue with little shading of emotion. J.P. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: MAR/APR 98]