WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK

Englander’s latest is a mixed bag of short stories—some bizarre, some eerie, all thought provoking. Each narrator brings an inimitable voice to his or her story. In the title story, Fred Sanders performs a delicate dance as Orthodox Jew reconnects with secular Jew, weighing their values. Arthur Morey finds the humor in “Camp Sundown,” in which the director of a youth camp and a neighboring elderhostel tries to keep his sanity. Englander’s narration of “The Reader” is eerie, recounting the story of a once popular author who travels from one empty book reading to another pursued by a fan who is demanding to be read to. Mark Bramhall’s smooth, steady delivery of “Free Fruit for Young Widows” will shock the listener with its insights on the lifelong repercussions of Holocaust survival. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2012]