THE NOTORIOUS JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS COUNTY AND OTHER STORIES

Narrator Norman Dietz does not disappoint in this comical and oftentimes poignant collection of seven Mark Twain short stories. He’s as comfortable with delivering the rustic speech of Jim Smiley, the notorious bettor who gets hoodwinked in the title story, as he is with portraying an exasperated Adam as he copes with Eve in the Garden of Eden in "The Diaries of Adam and Eve." There’s a deadpan quality to Dietz’s comedic delivery that adds to the humor. The smooth, deep tone of his voice is pleasing to the ear—but can make his female characters sound too masculine. Some listeners may find the pacing a bit too slow, but it seems fitting for a collection written during a simpler, less hurried time. M.D. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2012]