Teaching a Stone to Talk

Dillard waxes poetic about the big and the small in this collection of early essays, which highlight her skill as a wordsmith, her tenacity at drawing fascinating analogies, and her nuance in capturing the power of a given moment. However, narrator Randye Kaye does not have the skill set to communicate these qualities. She provides emphasis and pacing, but she doesn't capture Dillard's subtleties or smooth turns of phrase. Instead, Kaye pushes through the essays rather than delivering them with sensitivity. Whether talking about eclipses, confrontations with nature, church services, or lessons worth reflecting on, Dillard seeks her points deliberately, a trait that Kaye often misses. L.E. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine