By Nightfall

Cunningham, whose Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner award-winning novel, The Hours, is also available from Macmillan Audio (read by the author), here follows world-weary art dealer Peter Harris as he toys with breaking free from his middle-aged slump. Seeing the world through the eyes of his 20-year-old, drug-addicted brother-in-law causes Peter to reconsider his career, his relationship with his daughter, and his marriage. Unfortunately, Peter and his cohorts read more like New York art-world stereotypes than fully developed characters. Emmy Award nominee Hugh Dancy well captures Peter's melancholy, though it is occasionally difficult to distinguish between his reading of the dialog and Peter's thoughts. Cunningham's (www.michaelcunninghamwriter.com) popularity generally and his exploration of universal middle-class dreams and fears make this a good choice for book clubs. [The New York Times best-selling Farrar hc is a 2010 LJ Best Book.—Ed.]—Johannah Genett, Hennepin P.L., MN