The Other Two

The scene left Waythorn deeply shaken. Shamefacedly, in indirect ways, he had been finding out about Haskett; and all that he had learned was favorable. The little man, in order to be near his daughter, had sold out his share in a profitable business in Utica, and accepted a modest clerkship in a New York manufacturing house. He boarded in a shabby street and had few acquaintances. His passion for Lily filled his life. Waythorn felt that this exploration of Haskett was like groping about with a dark-lantern in his wife's past.

McInereny's controlled delivery captures the rigidity of New York society and gives the sense of looking through drawing room doors. L.R.S. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Partly due, ironically, to a dull feature film and the publication of early and unfinished works, there has been a resurgence of interest in Wharton, best known for her novels Ethan Frome (1911) and The Age of Innocence (1920). She was a prolific writer, and among her many short stories are some of the best by any author of her day. These two programs offer a tasty selection, in which unforgettable scenes and stunning ironies arise out of what seems to be the sheer delight of storytelling. Wharton loved ghost stories, and the marvelous title story in The Eyes is perhaps the most famous of these. In the same collection, "The Daunt Diana," another of Wharton's finest, explores the interrelationship of man and art, as does "The Moving Finger." The title story in The Other Two brilliantly complicates the discomforts of a man meeting his wife's previous husbands, and "Autres Temps" beautifully realizes Wharton's favorite theme, the power of social opinion to ruin a life. From a literary viewpoint, these programs make a splendid pair, but as recordings they are as different as day and night. In narrating The Eyes, Ralph Cosham-who, as Richard Setlok, superbly narrates the Commuter's Library Chekhov series (e.g., The Black Monk, Audio Reviews, LJ 6/15/93)-creates a recorded work of art that does justice to the nuance and beauty of Wharton's prose, whereas Susan McInereny, in narrating The Other Two, is merely a competent reader whose vocal timbre and delivery aren't equal to the material. The material does, however, shine forth, and, paired with The Eyes, it widens our view of one of the finest American writers of short fiction. Recommended.
Peter Josyph, New York
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