SPILT MILK

Buck Schirner's task as the narrator of this Brazilian novel is not an easy one, given that it's the story of an old man who attempts-- through the haze of age and dementia--to tell his life story. He often merges events and people into a confused but vivid montage, further complicated by the lies and half-truths he told even as a young man. Should we scorn him, pity him, or mistrust everything he says? Schirner's rich baritone is by turns matter-of-fact, naïve, arrogant, and fearful. Through his skillful narration we can read between the lines of the old man's confusion and, at the very least, accept that his life was shaped by forces he could not control. L.X. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2013]