The Society of Others (AD) / by William Nicholson; read by Glen McReady

In England, an unnamed young man no longer sees the point of anything. Everything is worthless, "all a wash" he muses from his room where he no longer leaves his bed. His mother and father care enough to at least take an interest in their son's issues, supplying him with the necessary funds to get by and leaving him alone for the most part. They do give advice though, not ill-natured but generally unsolicited enought until it finally does become too irritating. In a spur of the moment decision, the choice to get away is immediatley undertaken in unplanned and unpremeditated fashion.

Aimlessly hitchhiking along the road until he's picked up by a trucker heading for the channel tunnel, the protagonist sets off on his journey not knowing (or caring) about his destination. The adventure gets along fine for a little while. But when the truck driver, an odd fellow who peddles his own brand of muddled philosophy to the protagonist, is pulled over in a former eastern bloc country, things suddenly get very strange. The truck is captured and set ablaze by armed guerilla-styled men who capture the protagonist and his driver, confiscate their belongings and actually accuse the protagonist of committing murder. But that's only the beginning as the plot deepens into an ever-widening story of faith, allegiance, conspiracy and complicit dealings.

Author William Nicholson, also the Oscar-winning screenwriter of the blockbuster movie Gladiator, brilliantly pulls off this interesting novel focusing on free will, individual choices and the lives we make for ourselves. With gentle humor, wonderfully wry aplomb and lucid candor, The Society of Others is a bit of an off-the-wall book, very Kafka-esque in its own way positioning individual reason against institutional irrationality and repressive politics. Cynical ramblings by the anonymous protagonist add surprising weight to the novel's dreamlike atmosphere and detached mood, altogether offering up an entertaining story on the importance of human connection and worthwhile relationships. Of course the oral narrative of this, the audiobook, is enhanced by reader Glen McCready who more than manages the narrator's dour, nihilistic complex and lends admirable credibility to the supporting characters. This book is definitely better than OK and firmly satisfactory right up until the end. (AD FIC NICHOLSO)

The English Major / by Jim Harrison

"It used to be Cliff and Vivian and now it isn't" (p. 2)

At 60, Cliff is having a post mid-life crisis of sorts. A retired school teacher and part-time farmer in rural Michigan, he's currently having a devil of a time coming to grips with his wife leaving him, the seemingly inevitable foreclosure on his farm, and, perhaps most devastating, the recent death of his beloved dog Lola. So what better time to embark on the great American road trip? Figuring that he can reconnect with his Kerouac-ian soul and perhaps tie up some loose ends with his wife in Arizona, son in California and a former student he's always been drawn to, Cliff heads 'wagons west' (his car is a Ford Taurus station wagon) anticipating some exciting new horizons. What begins as a soul-searching quest for closure quickly becomes a joyride to sow up some wild oats which may have been bypassed in his youth. Cliff's liason with his married former student, Marybelle, is far more lurid than what Cliff (and the reader) could have imagined, the pair getting to know each other so well that Cliff's attraction becomes aversion by the time he drops her off in Montana. And any embittered--though spitefully gratifying--notions of Vivian's coming back to him are confirmed by her high-minded attempts to reconcile things; even though Cliff knows she's only angling to get some money out of his soon-to-be sold-off farm. Still, there's lessons learned along the way. One being that the best things in life may well be free, but they aren't always so great all the time.

This book is largely an embodiment of the "be careful what you wish for . . ." notion, entertaining the reader with quirky characters, instances of assumptions gone haywire, and nostalgia turned on its head, not to mention lots of intimately sordid details. While protagonist/narrator Cliff is refreshingly down-to-earth, he's also somewhat of a dirty old man. Which is why some readers may not be so appreciative of Cliff's detailed rendering of he and Marybelle's exploits and the flirtatious ways in which he entertains his thoughts about other loose female acquaintances (i.e., every waitress, barmaid, hotel clerk, etc.). There's fun to be had though, following Cliff as he geographically connects the dots and patchworks the various facets of his life, always ready to bear his lot even if he's not so keen on what it gives him. (FIC HARRISON)