The Breathing Method

Frank Muller lends a classic tone to King's labyrinthine tale of storytellers, climaxing in one very strange story. King's novelette, which originally appeared in the anthology DIFFERENT SEASONS, tells of a man drawn into an exclusive and timeless Manhattan gentlemen's club where the reality inside the brownstone has a more sinister edge than the world outside, and where the telling of stories is the primary activity of the club members. With grand formality and devilish intensity Muller tells the tale, both the story and the story-within-the-story: On a howling, bitter night just before Christmas, Dr. Emlyn McCarron recalls how, in the early 1930s, he helped an unmarried woman prepare for childbirth, and of the tragic consequences that followed. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

It's the tale, not he who tells it. This phrase, inscribed below the mantel of the men's club described in King's novella, gives the listener particular pause for thought. In print a tale is always told the same way, but Frank Muller's impeccable narration surely adds a great deal to this and most any tale. Muller presents this story within a story with ease and precision, drawing the listening to the fire to hear old McCarron recall his uncanny tale. This recording, made over ten years ago, shows the quality of production that is the foundation of Recorded Books' many titles. This combination of Muller and King should be savored and enjoyed. R.F.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine