A Civil Action

Every element of great drama--tragic deaths, titanic greed, a flawed hero--already existed in Jonathan Harr's A Civil Action. John Shea's reading provides the finishing touch: a great voice. Shea, an Obie Award-winning stage actor, is probably best known for his roles in a handful of films in the '80s, including Missing and Windy City. His smooth, disciplined reading guides us through some of the book's heavy traffic--lots of medical information, many characters with complex backgrounds, multiple carcinogenic chemicals--without for a second allowing us to get lost in those details. We never forget we're heading toward one of modern journalism's great clashes of good and evil, and even if we know in advance which side wins, the narrative path to that conclusion is always riveting. (Running time: 4 hours, 4 cassettes) --Lou Schuler