THE RABBIT FACTORY

Tom Stechschulte is magnificent, the perfect reader for the imperfect bunch of zany, self-absorbed, and convincing characters in Larry Brown’s tales of tangentially connected misfits in Memphis and northern Mississippi. There’s a cop killer, a one-legged housekeeper for a Mafia don, a sex-starved wife whose husband worries about impotence, a hooker, a mentally marginal pet shop employee, and a few dogs that almost steal the show. These are just a few of the colorful cast Stechschulte consistently and accurately depicts. Intense and varied in his performance, he’s clearly as involved in the absurdities, some sad, some hilarious, some both, as his appreciative listeners will be. Perhaps an A-minus for the novel, but certainly an A-plus for the narration. T.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 04]