My name is Sarah Moffett, and I am insane. This season’s example of controlled insanity will be to attempt the Philadelphia Marathon next Sunday. Operative word being “attempt.” Considering all of the distractions as of late–lawyering, writing, enduring the Rockies get drilled in the Series, watching Hillary Clinton running for president, etc.–my training has, shall we say, not been quite up to par. So recently I decided I needed something, anything, to get me through my final training long run.
And as previously noted, my music collection was not going to do it.
Then iTunes came to save the day. It usually does. Flipping through the iTunes store, I contemplated downloading movies to watch, but thought that might be a bit difficult on the multitasking skills. Then I saw the winner. The magical word that has made many Americans narcoleptic. Audiobooks.
Confession. I’m one of those Americans. Audiobooks just never appealed to me. Past experiences have done much to solidify that perspective. (You listen to 12 hours of Civil Procedure Sum and Substance CDs on a road trip and see how much you’re jonesing for audiobooks.) Alas, desperate times call for desperate measures. So, contributing my $49.99 to iTunes, I snatched up something I knew would be magical, loaded it onto my iPod, and hit the trail the following day.
It worked like a charm.
This gave me considerable pause, not to mention intense leg pains, once I was done crawling, so I did some quick research. Did you know audiobooks are now thought to be a $2 billion a year industry? According to the world’s common knowledge, a/k/a Wikipedia, audiobooks largely got their start back in 1931 when Congress established the talking-book program, which was intended to help blind adults who couldn’t read print. This program was called “Books for the Adult Blind Project.” The American Foundation for the Blind developed first talking books in 1932. One year later the first reproduction machine began the process of mass publishing. [Asleep yet?] By 1935, after Congress approved free mailings of audio books to blind citizens, the Books for the Adult Blind Project was in full operation. [Almost done.] In 1992 the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) network circulated millions of recorded books to more than 700,000 handicapped listeners. [And hit snore.] Or as one creative person put it…
With the spread of laptops, capatability of cars playing digital files, and Steve Jobs, I mean iPods, audiobooks are becoming more common. And maybe even, gasp, trendy. Multiple websites are now up that offer books for significantly less than the $49.99 iTunes extorted from my running needs. A few are listed below:
[Please pass along other suggestions.]
I suppose one could wax eloquent on what the growth of the audiobooks industry means for written print, but that would be almost as boring as this post. Instead, I’ll just suggest that you non believers give it a shot, whether running or driving or suppressing. Besides, after hearing one mainstream D.C. radio station this morning spin “I swear,” “Died in Your Arms,” and “Bye, Bye, Bye” in a row, I’m convinced audiobooks may not just be a new thing. They may be salvation.
11 responses so far ↓
1 Jarod // Nov 8, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Audio books are great. I’ve “read” Moby Dick and several others in the last few years that way.
By the way, if you listen to an unabridged audio-book, can you claim you’ve “read” the book, or do you have to clarify and say you’ve “listened to the audiobook version of the book”
2 hugh // Nov 8, 2007 at 1:14 pm
also try:
http://www.enivrez.com/bedtime/
3 Sarah Moffett // Nov 8, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Jarod. You survived Moby Dick on audio? I have to wonder who they had doing Captain Ahab’s voice.
Hugh. Thank you for the suggestion. Talk about a new way to open up dialogue between writers and readers (listeners?).
4 depotqz » Blog Archive » $2 Billion Dollars Gets Runner Across Finish Line // Nov 9, 2007 at 12:44 am
[…] here for […]
5 Michael Benidt // Nov 9, 2007 at 9:27 am
Sheryl and I researched our own online audio use for a blog article last year and discovered we had downloaded (then) 359 Audible.com books and have listened to over 200 of them in the past 5 years. We are such big fans that when we spoke in New Jersey a few years back, we made a pilgrimage to their headquarters in Wayne.
It’s the only thing that keeps us sane while stuck in traffice. Now we seek out gridlock, just to hear the next chapter.
Try some of the wonderful novels of Tracy Chevalier, Anna Quindlen and Anita Shreve. Distracted? Try thrillers by Dan Brown, Nelson DeMille, Stephen King or mysteries by Robert Parker, PD James or Michael Connelly. Or just learn from writers like Michael Beschloss, David McCullough and Thomas Friedman. For writing skills, we’ve listened to the wisdom of Anne Lamott, William Zinsser and Peter Matthiessen.
In fact, here’s an assignment for anyone reading Sarah’s article: go to Audible.com and type in Anne Lamott in the search box. You could download any of her books, but instead look for “Word by Word.” It’s a two-hour seminar that won an award several years back. I guarantee, if you care about writing at all that you will be astonished at her wisdom, her grace and her humor - and you will be a better writer. Well, all of you except for Sarah, who must have already taken Anne’s seminar.
6 Lisa // Nov 9, 2007 at 11:18 am
Give www.simplyaudiobooks.com a try. They have unlimited rental plans similar to Netflix and also offer a download club. They have a free trial going on right now.
7 Linda // Nov 9, 2007 at 11:24 am
Audio books… just can’t get into them. There’s something about caressing the page, going back to a sentence or paragraph that intrigues me that hitting ‘rewind’ just doesn’t do. Ssometimes, rarely, I’ll listen to poetry or podcasts. Probably my attention span - short, manic, and hepped up. Hence the 4000 songs on my ipod, and the need for more… goodluck with the marathon. You’ve got my admiration for even attempting…
8 Sarah Moffett // Nov 9, 2007 at 11:45 am
Michael. Wow. Thanks for the excellent suggestions, sites, and personal experiences. I confess nearly being late for a meeting this week because I was sitting in my car listening to the last half of a chapter. It’s ridiculous, really.
Lisa. Thanks for the suggestion. When I go incommunicado for days on end, it’s all your fault.
Linda. I know, I know. There is something about words on paper. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mesh well with my sadistic running habits. Thanks for the well wishes. I’ll need them. Alot of them.
9 towwas // Nov 12, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Yeah, I hardly ever drive (good!) or exercise (bad, I know, I know) so I don’t have opportunities for listening to audiobooks. I do listen to Norwegian radio podcasts sometimes, though.
10 Sarah Moffett // Nov 13, 2007 at 3:22 pm
Towwas. Norwegian radio podcasts? You so have to be more specific. I.E. the news? sports? Dragon lore?
11 I beat Katie Holmes. Barely. Philadelphia Marathon 2007. // Nov 19, 2007 at 11:06 am
[…] to the iPod bit. And thank you to everyone with their music suggestions for my […]
Leave a Comment