THE GENTLEMAN FROM PERU

Edoardo Ballerini, a true audiobook pro, brings his usual enthusiasm to this title, using accents right and left, and brimming with theatrical energy. As ever, his timing and timbre are engaging. He puts every effort into this performance, but the substance of the material itself is what keeps the production from being great. This work of magical realism, which begins as a story of a chance meeting, becomes slow, wandering, and overly meditative. The stranger who enters the lives of a group of old friends is intriguingly mysterious, but his lengthy and obscure speeches can make one's mind wander, even when Ballerini is rendering them. The audiobook may best suit listeners who are willing to suspend disbelief no matter what. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2020]