NORWOOD

Listeners may have trouble deciding if this story, first published in 1966, is a witty American classic or an embarrassment. Whatever the opinion, narrator David Aaron Baker does a commendable job bringing the characters to life. Norwood Pratt, an ex-Marine of questionable intelligence, makes one bad decision after another, traveling haphazardly across the country, meeting up with an array of idiots, bigots, and losers. Listeners' skin will crawl at Baker's renditions of the slimy, slick-talking salesman; grit their teeth at the irritating brother-in-law; and roll their eyes at Norwood himself with his ignorant-sounding diction. In spite of the well-drawn character portrayals, the story is difficult to enjoy in the present day with so much casual use of the "n" word. M.M.G. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2013]