Dubliners.

DUBLINERS. James Joyce. 2005. Performed by Frank McCourt, Ciaran Hinds, Donal Donnelly, Colm Meaney, Stephen Rea, et al. 7 cds. 8 hrs. Caedmon, Harper Audio. 0-06-078956-5. $39.95. Cardboard; plot, author notes. SA*

With its jacket cover photo of a bustling O'Connell Street, kelly green disks emblazoned with a girdle of silver Celtic knots, and an astounding cast of world-class Irish performers, this audiobook was designed to deliver the Dublin with which James Joyce had such a love-hate relationship right to your door and disk player. And deliver it does, sometimes with the delicate touch of a harpist, often with the impact of a shillelagh. The stories themselves are 15 distinct slices of Irish city life, roughly clustered into groups involving birth, death and coming of age, love--sacred and profane--and maturity. Most of Joyce's Dubliners live ordinary, even rather bleak lives, from which they, and we, can nevertheless draw breath-catching moments of extraordinary insight. Unlike Joyce's stream-of-consciousness novels, which are difficult and daunting, these stories are direct and accessible.

The 15 different readers include the likes of Frank and Malachy McCourt, Patrick McCabe, Donal Donnelly, Brendan Coyle, Fionnula Flanagan and Stephen Rea. All are so well-matched to their tales that it's impossible either to find fault or to pick a favorite. Francine Levitov, Attorney, New York, NY

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.

*--The asterisk highlights exceptional books.