Men and CartoonsStories

A grandiose grab bag for the Lethem newbie.
MacArthur Fellowship winner Jonathan Lethem, who Zorroed his literary cred in 2003 with The Fortress of Solitude, emphasizes Brooklyn grit, adolescent angst, and a geek-saturated empathy. In audio form, the nine stories of Men and Cartoons' provide a grandiose if somewhat mixed grab bag for the Lethem newbie.

If the fiction itself is laced with conceptual pleasures like "Toscanini's glasses," the various readers here are sometimes too smooth to settle into the natural ebullience within Lethem's prose. Despite the inspired pairing of Sandra Bernhard with "Access Fantasy," she's clearly there for the check. Kevin Corrigan gives the engaging "Vivien Relf," about a mysterious woman who shows up at parties, a touch of class.

Thankfully, two stories have been given to Lethem himself, and he's the clear standout. If Lethem can't quite convincingly pull off the bad breakup within "The National Anthem," his sincere and unpolished enthusiasm makes "Super Goat Man," a lengthy and delightful tale about a misunderstood superhero, a can't-miss listen.