THE SHIRALEE

“Shiralee” is an Australian word for burden. A tough itinerant laborer named Macauley roams Australia’s Outback in search of work during the Depression. His burden is Buster, a 4-year-old who may or may not be his daughter. The story moves painfully slowly, sustained only by James Condon’s voice and the reader’s anticipation of a weighty conclusion. The conclusion turns out to be profoundly simple. Condon’s reading, however, is anything but simple. He commands a huge range of characters. Though each is distinctive, they eventually run together, leaving the listener confused yet captivated. The story itself is a metaphor. Listening to it is a burden one finds oddly satisfying in retrospect. D.W.K. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: NOV/DEC 97]