EVERYDAY PEOPLE

Giancarlo Esposito drops the listener right into the struggles of daily life among residents of East Liberty, Pennsylvania. He delivers the right amount of feeling to O'Nan's story of suffering among inner-city residents coming to terms with the various hardships in their lives. With characters ranging from a born-again ex-con to a single mother attending college and a middle-aged father discovering his homosexuality, Esposito reads real feeling into each character. The story revolves around Crest, a young man confined to a wheelchair. Vivid writing coupled with an enthusiastic and smartly urban reading, however, are not enough to overcome an overly aggressive abridgment. H.L.S. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/ JAN 02]