WHEN THE CENTURY WAS YOUNG

Something between the sound of a music box and an old schoolhouse piano begins the tape and when it stops, Dee Brown's slow drawl emerges. He reveals a quintessential small-town boy reaching for the big time, first in the arena of what we now call "scam" and, later, in the less disreputable field of journalism. The backcountry Ozark setting adds almost mythic dimensions to the stories. Brown isn't a polished reader. He's a well-honed writer who projects unease with the words as if, at times, he cannot believe he wrote them. How good to be young and ready to rear, but more wonderful is the fullness of age and ripeness of wit that relates youthful disasters with compassion and a rueful tone. Brown is authentic and sincere. More polish might be out of place. S.B.S. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG 95]