Will You Always Love Me?

One happy feature of a short story is that it can usually be read without interruptions. This feature produces a completeness and coherence very satisfying for the listener. However, whether one would choose to listen to several of these stories in a row is doubtful as one's nerves need a rest from the contemplation of ordinary people (ourselves?) heroically swimming against the currents of time and isolation to reach a vanishing shore called love. In this struggle Oates allows us the reader's thrill of seeing more of the characters than they can ever see of themselves. Caruso narrates those with a female focus while Guidall handles those with a male focus. Both are superb. They give realistic texture to the American idiomatic speech so important to Oates's modern characterizations. They also understand that these charged stories need quiet, sympathetic voices held well in control as a counter to the emotional chaos emanating from the page. Their sensitive, interpreting voices are welcome company. One wouldn't want to make the journey through these stories alone. P.W. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine