Digging deftly to the root of George's mind, Isherwood captures his moments of intelligence and pain, of arrogance, lust, self-loathing, confusion, alienation, connection, nostalgia, heartbreak, discovery. In a scant 150 pages, Isherwood details one mundane-yet-important day in the life of an English professor in the U.S. I've not yet seen the (apparently wonderful) film based on this book, which was probably a blessing, as I was able to approach it uninitiated.

In which a European in exile in 1964 manages to accurately convey the inner workings of those of us Antipodeans in 2012. I was glad to share such a singular performance like this one with my loved ones, and glad to take the time to do so (about 4 1/2 very nice hours). Two nights later, I did listen to the entire book again-all in one go, instead of in bits and pieces as I did the first time- and this time with company: my spouse, two bottles of wine, a jar of almonds and two (seemingly) interested cats. Further, he dramatizes the work with a subtlety that lets the strength and complexity of Isherwood's work come through.When I finished listening to this recording the first time, I immediately had the feeling that I wanted to start listening to it again, all over. Prebble's interpretation of the text is perfect his voice is crystal clear, and because of this clarity, captures the language of the book beautifully. The cadence of Prebble's voice captures the flavor and the beauty of Isherwood's depiction of lived experience, with a particular power and charm that makes the book worth seeking out in this format. A Single Man is first and foremost about the continuous and complicated experience of living and, perhaps most of all, its fragility. Encountering the text in this way, an experience halfway between reading a novel and watching a theatrical piece, was exquisite.This audio-book of A Single Man is read by Simon Prebble, who has won numerous awards for his audio work and was a fairly accomplished stage actor. Mostly a stranger to the 'audio-book' format, I very much enjoyed the way this recording paced me through the text: listening, I simply did not have the option of rushing through this or that little part of the novel, and thereby missing the detailed nuances of Isherwood's language that help make the whole work so powerful.

A single man by christopher isherwood