ACHES & PAINS

As the author of bestselling novels, Maeve Binchy is known as an astute observer of human nature. She's also a gifted storyteller who uses this unabridged recording to bring to life tales about her hip surgery, her stays in the hospital, her travails with medical professionals, and the basic indignity she has suffered while depending on others for basic body maintenance. She reveals enough of her emotional frailties to make her charmingly human, and she uses sarcasm and irony to good effect. It's entertaining in a slow, public-radio sort of way, and the reading by actress Kate Binchy (the author's cousin) contributes to making this a gem of a listening experience. T.W. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 02]