MOBY-DICK

Despite its flaws, Paul Boehmer's reading of MOBY-DICK merits our consideration and is worthy of acclaim. His odd pronunciation of some words (i.e., the unconventional way he accents syllables) is jarring. He renders some characters (Father Mapple, Bildad, Peleg) more vividly than others (Stubb, Flask, Starbuck, and strangely enough, Ishmael). It's difficult to avoid drifting when his Ishmael drones on, pseudo-scientifically, about whaling and the whale. But his Ahab makes it all worthwhile. Boehmer avoids the temptation to reduce the PEQUOD's captain to caricature and presents us with a figure of baleful majesty: simultaneously appalling and alluring. T.J.W. 2003 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 03]