Any Human Heart

Some nine years after its original publication, Boyd’s classic novel finds its way to audio, with Simon Vance narrating the lifetime of diary entries that tell the story of shambling hero and Englishman Logan Mountstuart. Spanning many decades, the book follows Mountstuart as he navigates boarding school, the 1929 Wall Street crash, WWII, and a very long life—all while meeting a host of famous artists and writers along the way. Vance narrates at a brisk clip, almost faster than the prose demands—but by doing so, he captures the essential Mountstuart: a man unsure about the meaning of a life that is speeding along. And for Boyd’s comic, overstuffed, heartbreaking gem of a novel, this is just right. A Viking paperback. (Aug.)