Matt's Books and Music

June is a month of many commemorations, but one that I haven’t seen get much attention so far this year is that June is Audiobook Month. I’m a bit of a latecomer to audiobooks, having only begun to incorporate them into my reading life over the past three years. Like many readers, I was initially skeptical about them, even to the point of wondering if they really ‘counted’ as reading. Well, I was quickly put in my place on that front, and since dipping my toes into the audiobook waters, I’ve been profoundly blessed by them on a few fronts.

First, they’ve increased my opportunities for reading. I’m not good at reading text while in transit, but I can always listen. Audiobooks also allow me to read while exercising or running errands. And for me, anything that allows more room for more books is a great thing.

Second, I found that there are some types of books I find more accessible in audiobook form. This includes book written in non-standard or archaic English dialects — I find it easier to understand them when I hear them than when I’m trying to make sense of them on the page — but also a lot of classics, written with different conventions of dividing up text and typesetting. I find I can easily get lost in a page that’s solid, margin-to-margin text, making reading older classics an even bigger challenge than they need to be. Listening to them removes this barrier and has allowed me to engage with and appreciate far more classics than I would have otherwise. (Some may say that this is part of the challenge of classics, but I simply reject the premise that older printing conventions designed to limit ‘wasted’ white space on the page should be considered as essential to the experience of engaging literature!)

And third, there are some books that are even improved by the audiobook medium.

Today I’d like to talk about a few of these instances.

1. Celebrity Memoirs: Celebrity memoir can be a great ‘gateway genre’ for those unfamiliar or uncertain about the value of audiobooks. There’s nothing better than hearing an interesting person tell their own life story, with their own natural rhythms, inflection, and voice. The two best examples that come to mind for me are Bono’s 2022 memoir Surrender, and Mel Brooks’ 2021 release All About Me! As one might expect, both of these books are tours de force and I was very glad to read both of them on audiobook.
2. Author-Read Novels: Sometimes, having an author read their own work provides unexpected nuance that might be lost from the page alone. My favorite example of this is, actually, my favorite novel of all time, Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being. The book includes things like prayers and koans, but the way Ozeki chose to narrate them added a different, at times unexpected, dimension to them. One example that I still remember has the main character giggle the entire way through a prayer. It was a really fascinating insight into the author’s mind, one that I’m not sure anyone but Ozeki herself would have chosen or even been able to pull off as effectively.
3. Perfect Pairing of Narrator and Author: Often, the same narrator will perform all of a particular author’s work. And sometimes, the pairing is a match made in heaven. One great example of this is Kimberly Farr narrating the work of Elizabeth Strout, best known for her Olive Kitteridge books (the first of which won the Pulitzer) and her three Lucy Barton books. Strout writes in a characteristic style. It’s deceptively simple, and comes across as being very deliberate and thoughtful, as though we’re in the characters’ minds as they think of just the right way of expressing their feelings. Farr’s clipped, no-nonsense, Midwestern accented narration is a perfect pairing for this style. I simply can’t imagine anyone else reading these books, or, really, reading them without Farr’s voice giving life to Strout’s words.
4. Perfect Pairing of Narrator and Content: Other times, an audiobook narration really works because of the content of the book. The best example of this I’ve ever encountered is Rory Kinnear’s performance of David Nicholls’s Sweet Sorrow. The book follows a teenage boy who joins a Summer production of Romeo and Juliet to impress a girl. Kinnear is a well-known Shakespearean actor, and trust me when I say that no one can butcher the Bard’s language as beautifully and hilariously as someone who knows it inside and out.
5. Gorgeous Voices: Then there are narrators who are just complete joys to listen to. My favorite is Robin Wall Kimmerer, a botanist (and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation), who has narrated both of her popular books, Gathering Moss, and Braiding Sweetgrass. These are both magnificent books in their own right, but Robin Wall Kimmerer has simply the most beautiful spoken voice I have ever heard. I’d happily listen to her read anything.
6. Great Performances: Sometimes, a narration is just a great performance. One example of this that comes to mind is Will Watt’s narration of Henry Fry’s First Time for Everything. I think this is a really challenging performance, because the book is very funny, so the narrator needs to capture the comedic sensibility and comic timing of the main character, but it also deals with some very difficult subject matter, so the narration also needs to have the range to manage both of these — sometimes simultaneously. I think this could have gone off the rails really easily, but Watt did an amazing job.
7. The Best of the Best: Finally, some audiobook narrators add something special to every performance. For me the best of the best is Julia Whelan, who elevates every book I’ve heard her narrate. My favorite is a book she also authored, Thank You for Listening, which, as it happens, is a novel about two audiobook narrators. She shows off her impressive voicework chops here, while also offering listeners a glimpse into the world of audiobook narration.