Life and Adventures of Jack Engle

Jon Hamm's performance of Walt Whitman's only novel is a celebration of a book that was not discovered until 2016. Some listeners will relish this hidden treasure as a masterpiece to be devoured quickly. Others will view it as a collection of short stories to savor chapter by chapter, especially because the latter approach allows Hamm to vary his character portrayals and narrative as he delivers the scenes that comprise the larger story. The stories themselves feature a range of fascinating characters, including a disreputable lawyer, and some surprising plot twists. No matter how one experiences the audiobook, it provides a rare opportunity to appreciate a missing piece of American literature and to appreciate Hamm, whose style enlivens even the book's most turgid scenes. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

September 1, 2017

In 1852, the New York Sunday Dispatch serialized Jack Engle, after which the uncredited (and uncelebrated) novel dropped into oblivion. Rediscovered by University of Houston graduate student Zachary Turpin and now attributed to Walt Whitman, the text shows Whitman experimenting with genres and expressive forms three years before Leaves of Grass established him as a poet. The lively Dickensian potboiler (featuring multiple orphans, a scheming lawyer named Covert, a Spanish dancer, a Quaker heiress, and "vile machinations") also incorporates elements of the then-popular "city mystery novel"--corruption, especially among the privileged and powerful; poverty; exploitation of the weak and disenfranchised, particularly children. One of the story's flaws--jarring shifts in narrative focus--also furnishes its highlight: a transporting interlude of graveyard meditation with Whitman's poetic persona memorably emergent. Narrator Jon Hamm voices Jack's first-person account with resonant earnestness, focusing on the protagonist with only minimal characterization of other figures; his crisp enunciation, adept pacing, and period-appropriate tone serve Whitman's prose well. Turpin's Afterword, which he reads and which precedes the story as "Introduction" in the print version, imparts accessible literary context. VERDICT This diverting, historically significant production is recommended for all libraries.--Linda Sappenfield, Round Rock P.L., TX

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