****Excellent***Good**Fair*Poor : AUDIOCASSETTES

“The Princess Bride” by William Goldman. Dove. (Abridged, on two cassettes--2 hrs., 39 min.) In an inventive bit of casting, actor-turned-film maker Rob Reiner, who directed the current, successful movie version, reads a swift condensation of William Goldman’s charming novel. A grandfather relates a fairy tale--ostensibly beloved in his own childhood--to a grandson. The fantastical tale, a gentle and affectionate spoof of the genre, is wonderfully inventive and, of course, uplifting. Reiner’s cheerfully salty delivery becomes a kind of reading within a reading. An all-ages delight. *** 1/2