June 04, 2006

Audio CD Book

Some people hate read but love literature. How’s that for confusing? And frustrating, if you are trying to buy a Christmas, birthday, or other gift for this person. For example, I have a brilliant friend who is the Albert Schweitzer of computer programmers and developers. It makes sense that working at a computer reading a screen ten hours a day depletes his interest in hard copy text. At the same time, he loves stories, comic tales, and intellectual comedy in general. And he is a devotee of NPR, Car Talk, and other radio talk programs. So the most logical and generous thing to do for him is buy him something that will talk to him, tell him tales, make him laugh: an audio CD book is the thing.

The audio CD book follows the print version exactly, and is [usually] narrated by one who has a traditionally appealing voice—by one who is a performer, a singer, or another kind of radio or television voice. So, for instance, my friend’s audio CD book, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, doesn’t lose anything in the “translation”. Neither does the self-help book converted to audio, or the epic or longer work.

And some printed books are just prime material for the conversion to audio CD books: books such as Foucault’s Pendulum, written by the brilliant wordsmith Umberto Eco makes for a hypnotic experience when you are on a long road trip, love philosophy, and are compelled by the weaving of a mystery of sorts.

In the same respect, audio CD books are ideal for commuters, who can’t tolerate the commercial interruptions of public radio, are ideal for the elderly or the blind, and provide great auxiliary learning tools for learners with visual, mental, or other learning differences that textual materials fall short for. In fact, in many states and provinces, volunteer and other organizations record books on tape for such needful ones, as do schools and institutions have programs wherein one can order a textbook [the rest of the class is using] to be made into an audio CD book.

Just be prepared, though, when seeking the perfect story or printed material on audio for that perfectly deserving friend: I am still looking [on ebay] for an audio copy of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and an audio version of the posthumous work of genius Jonathan Kennedy O’Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces. In the meantime, this Christmas my friend got the complete box set of Monty Python…which he has already delightedly emailed me about at great length, with transcribed clips for me to read while he listens. See what I mean? Some people listen better (or more) than others

Posted by KeyWestPublishing at 11:34 PM | Comments (0)

Audio Books Online

I just finished writing to you (in another article) all about the maddening, interfering, altogether troublesome experiences for serious book shoppers trying to access products on shelves in physical bookstores when lay-abouts and freeloaders block every *&%&)))(%$$#% aisle. I pointed you in the direction of audio books online by way of the online bookstores and auction spots I frequent. That is, because of the genius of Gates, Jobs, and hundreds of others, we can shop for audio books online and avoid the b.s. of doing so in person…with—ugh—other persons.

For starters, some great sites, such as Amazon.com, EBay (search “audio book”), and Powells.com, offer audio books online for sale. But further, we can also find audio books online, books that are not for sale but are in the free domain, as the books on which the audios are based have been in existence, were written, or were approved for re-reading before or beyond intellectual property/copyright laws. In other words, there are numerous audio books online that you do not have to struggle to find, buy, or access.

Now when you do a general search for audio books online, be forewarned: you will get such items/titles as I describe here. You will also get too many online books results with your search engine from those SELLING audio books online…such is the versatility or virtue of the vendors cashing in, etc.. So I will start you off with a list of audio books online that are not necessarily bestsellers, contemporary text books for science class, or any kind of books for sale. All of the following, that is, are FREE audio books online…literally:

Wired for Books (http://wiredforbooks.org/) - Not only features books online, but poetry, oratories, and audio books online…audio versions of literature read by the living writers (reading aloud their own works) and read by writers and literati (reading aloud the works of those long gone but not forgotten).

Professor Martin Spinelli’s Literary Audio Links page (http://wings. buffalo.edu/epc/sound/links.html) – ample possibilities here. Though not all are audio books online, many are snippets, excerpts and full texts of short stories, essays, and more.

Random House’s Bold Type (http://wings.buffalo.edu/epc/ sound/links.html) – features excerpts of the hottest of literature. Wonderful possibilities, here.

Jewish Stories from the Old World to the New (http://wings.buffalo. edu/epc/sound/links.html) – audio books online, audio excerpts, and audio short stories—read by celebrities and star authors.


So maybe when you search and want to find not ALL audio books online but audio versions of books that are actually, chapter for chapter and page by page on…line, you might start with those sites I list here…or type in a new search phrase that includes the word “free”?

Posted by KeyWestPublishing at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)