NORTHWEST CORNER

One of the advantages of having five narrators is the variety—the pleasure of each handoff from one to the other. That is especially true in this performance but not in a positive way. The narration of this sequel to Schwartz’s first novel, RESERVATION ROAD, only emphasizes the book’s poor writing. The internal dialogue of Schwartz’s characters is so infuriatingly full of speech making, aphorisms, and labored metaphors that you quickly lose patience with all of them, and that, unfortunately, extends to the poor narrators forced to inhabit them. You are meant to have sympathy for a family torn apart by a past accident and a present-day violent incident, but the writing and performances make it impossible to get on board with any of them. M.O. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2011]