The March

Joe Morton's skills are tested in this outstanding rendition of Doctorow's novel about Sherman's march and the final months of the Civil War. Working by nuance and inflection rather than mimicry of voices, Morton handles a Chaucerian cast of types and individuals, fictional and historical, ranging from a hysterical Georgia dowager to an unflappable army surgeon, from plantation slaves and Irish immigrant soldiers to the president of the land. Their stories all voice the "sound of expectation" that the end of the war raises in every character. Morton's highly competent delivery may lack something of the urbane wit and playfulness of the novel, but he gives full expression to Doctorow's distinctive blend of period vocabulary and phraseology. Morton may be the one reader capable of rendering the full power and range of this complex and many-toned novel, and here he gives one of his finest performances. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Starred review from December 5, 2005
America's greatest internal conflict is brought startlingly to life in this masterful fictional exploration of the slaves, soldiers and leaders who lived through it all. The action focuses on Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's 1864 march through Georgia and the Carolinas—a march that led more than 60,000 Union troops across the land, leaving a swath of destruction and ruin in its wake. Morton handles the voices of the diverse cast with incredible variety and precision. He shifts seamlessly from the cold, proper dialect of the surgeon Colonel Sartorius, to the lowborn speech of Pearl, a light-skinned slave who is passing as a drummer boy in Sherman's army. Morton's narration, like Doctorow's prose, is quietly powerful, and propels the story forward as relentlessly as Sherman's advancing armies. Morton has always been a terrific character actor onscreen, and he brings those same outstanding qualities to this audiobook production. His performances does more than simply translate a book to audio; it truly enhances the reading experience. Simultaneous release with the Random House hardcover (Reviews, July 18).