TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURRENT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES : ****Excellent ***Good **Fair *Poor : AUDIOCASSETTES

“Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant” by Anne Tyler. Books on Tape. (Nine cassettes; unabridged.) Tyler’s account, spanning almost half a century, of a Baltimore family held together by the scar tissue of troubles, anger and a somehow persisting, grudging affection, is a classic of contemporary Americana, accurate to the last momentary fad, the right pop song heard in the night that particular summer. Mother Pearl, shrill and tough, raising two sons and a daughter alone, is a later American Gothic portrait. Reader Jill Masters’ accents are British, but her subtly distinctive capturings of Mother Pearl and each one of her disparate children are evocative and just right. A near-perfect reading of a story variously funny and horrifying, and finally, quietly, terribly moving. Information: (714) 548-5525. ****