Underworld

Settle in for a long, fascinating journey through the post-war U.S., exquisitely described in 23 tapes, with countless accents and pinpoint literary accuracy by narrator Richard Poe. His reading sets the tone from the opening scene at the Polo Grounds, where Bobby Thompson inaugurates the modern marriage of sports and the media, to the barren landscape of America in the 1990s. Poe's performance is measured, studied, and technically flawless. His deep, authoritative voice covers the prose, and his characters have actual lives. This is a complex book that probably needs a second listening in order for us to fully grasp the nuances of DeLillo's writing. The book's length and detail can be daunting, but we are certainly rewarded at the end. R.I.G. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

DeLillo's massive and astounding novel presents an enormous challenge, covering five decades of modern history through a shifting array of diverse characters. While traipsing across the landscape of American culture, alighting on such matters as Frank Sinatra, baseball, and even waste disposal policy, his real theme is nothing less than the entire Cold War. It is difficult, tricky material, and expect no help from Prichard's narration. He takes a minimalist approach, putting as little style and interpretation as possible between DeLillo and the listener. It is a justifiable approach, but any listener should be forewarned: Listening to DeLillo's latest novel demands the utmost in concentration and determination. Only then will its rewards reveal themselves. M.O. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Few books are given the tender loving care that Dennis Boutsikaris gives Underworld. And this book needs it. Its ambition is to explore the American sensibility during the Cold War. DeLillo is a fine, absorbing writer and complex thinker who seeks a thread uniting everything in our culture from our most superficial symbols and pastimes to our most desperate needs. Few readers strive to give us a sense of a novel's architecture of plot, its manipulation of tension and rise to a climax, much less its architecture of ideas. But Boutsikaris has done his homework. His insight is apparent in every line, not only for its immediate meaning and personality, but for its relationship to the whole. Having done so, he then proceeds to use his strong, youthful voice and mastery of technique to deliver a seemingly effortless and deeply expressive rendering of some mighty fine writing. A benchmark performance that others should aspire to equal. Y.R. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine