ONE FOR MY BABY

Alfie Budd returns to England from Hong Kong where he has taught English to émigrés and where his wife has died. He is faced with his parents’ marital disaster, his grandmother’s aging, and a string of affairs with his students, all while trying to learn the benefits of T’ai Chi. This rich novel filled with philosophical homilies is excellent as printed, but as Gerard Doyle reads it, the humanness of every line flows through the narrative profoundly. One wants to catch these thoughts and memorize them. Every character is understandable and recognizable, in particular because Doyle sets aside his ego and becomes the medium through whom we visit the world of Alfie Budd. J.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 03]