A Walk on the Wild Side

Alas, nowadays when people hear this book title, they think of the Lou Reed song--inspired by the Algren novel--or the movie with Laurence Harvey, a decimation of the book. That's why it's great to finally have a definitive audio version. Algren's crazy pastiche of Texas Panhandle down-and-outers seems especially fresh today, more than five decades after its debut. His freewheeling style and use of vernacular are channeled by narrator Keith Szarabajka, who breathes life into colorful losers like Kitty Twist and the legless Achilles Schmidt. Those who enjoy the sparse regional styles of John Steinbeck and Anne Proulx will especially enjoy this production. Headphones listeners: The shouting sermons of Fitz Linkhorn, though mesmerizing, are a little too loud. R.W.S. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine


Published in 1956, but peopled with whores and tramps drawn from the New Orleans of the 1930s, this novel is considered a classic. Tragically, it sounds like one. Algren is a gifted writer and a great populist, but he sure does find a lot of good hearts on the wrong side of the tracks. Barrett Whitener underscores our growing disbelief by chewing up the scenery. Whitener never says "Howdy" without wringing a pint of molasses out of the word. Less is sometimes more. And yet this remains an important work. Algren is a crucial link in the muckraking tradition of American letters. He's a man of the people. He's a voice for the voiceless. The Russell Banks introduction brought this listener to tears. B.H.C. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine