A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Starred review from August 30, 2010
When Hank Morgan is transported from 19th-century Hartford, Conn., to sixth-century England, his misadventures begin as he navigates a host of dangers en route to becoming “The Boss” of Camelot. William Dufris’s enthusiastic narration is perfect; the deep drawl he produces might very well be the voice of Twain himself, and his pacing and comedic timing will delight listeners. Dufris is clearly enjoying himself, and he produces a series of unique voices for the knights and damsels Morgan meets in Camelot.

A practical, no-nonsense New Englander of 1889, knocked unconscious in a fight, wakes up in old England of 528, where, by dint of his industry, he becomes Sir Boss, a prominent and dissident member of the Round Table. With a trace of cockney in his voice, Chris Walker sprints through Mark Twain's revision of the chivalric ideal as if he were late for an appointment, tripping occasionally and never quite connecting with the authorial personality. He has no idea of what a Connecticut Yankee is or why placing one in Camelot should produce such telling thematic consequences. His main achievement is in keeping so much of the text straight at such high RPM. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine