Tournament

TOURNAMENT, Civil War historian Shelby Foote's first book, was published in 1949. The main character, Hugh Bart, living as a farmer in the post bellum South, confronts life's problems as told in a clever mixture of rich languge and flashbacks. The prologue, more recently written, contains an interesting history of the book's origin and the author's accomplishments to date. Tom Parker's pleasant voice creates believable characters who metamorphose from words to reality with regional accents, interesting intonations, and antique expressions. Suited for mature teens and above, the novel's vocabulary alone deserves acclain in today's overly profane world. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine