THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING

Can one call an audio performance ravishing? That's what Barbara Caruso delivers in this perfect marriage of writing and narration. Joan Didion has written an absorbing reflection on the year that followed the death of her husband of 40 years, the author John Gregory Dunne. It was a year in which she grieved while also caring for their severely ill only child, Quintana. In a voice as warm and clear as wildflower honey, Barbara Caruso speaks Didion's words as if they flow straight from her own heart. It's subtly done: a smile in the voice when the line is witty, an intake of breath before pain. Caruso sounds fascinated. And we are engrossed from first word to last. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, National Book Award Winner 2006 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 06]