THE BOOK OF SPECULATION

Narrator Ari Fliakos has complete control over this tale of magical realism as he underplays the drama and makes the outlandish seem plausible. The story jumps in time between narratives--one set in the present day, in which first-person narrator Simon finds his life falling apart, and the other set amid the eighteenth-century traveling "menagerie" of Simon's ancestors. Fliakos delivers the present-day sections with a tone of resignation. Simon is an exhausted man, strained almost to the breaking point, and his sighs are frequent. The people of the menagerie are big and bold and brassy. Fliakos's performance enhances a terrific book. Listeners will enjoy letting him guide them through the surreal elements of Swyler's story. G.D. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2015]