I once shared the meme at the top as a not-so-tongue-in-cheek dig at folks who aspire to write, without putting in the first necessary work: reading. Of course in my haste to judge non-readers I failed to do the necessary work of considering where the stick/stone might land until a friend sheepishly asked my opinion of audiobooks.
It’s easy to pop off without considering all sides. As Jung said, thinking is hard, that’s why most people simply judge. But if not readily apparent, please, please, please believe me when I say that I don’t judge how someone consumes books. Paper, digital, audiobook, or braille—reading is reading.
It’s called a punchline for a reason
In the 2016 remake of Ghostbusters Ed Begley Jr.’s Historian Ed Mulgrave said, “...it [a book] is also available on books on tape, too. Only I can read.” That was the only gag in the movie that fell flat with me. Honest to Yoda, I really don’t get the hate on audiobooks.
My dear-departed Mutha’ McClellan could read. Sadly, she suffered with open-and-closed-angle glaucoma which made reading painful. My psychotic Marine uncle read via a magnifying glass held up to his one good eye. He too suffered with glaucoma as well as pronounced PTSD. An avid reader in his youth, my father’s concentration was riddled by trauma and addiction in the decades preceding his death. All of my family members would have benefited, if not truly LOVED, audiobooks.
But that stigma…
Audiobooks open doors that ADHD, dyslexia, and neurodivergence often close. A well-read book will unlock the nuance of story and character that may be lost in the struggle to simply “keep up” with what is happening on the page. Dyslexics often struggle to even get the letters to line up into words. In short, the audiobook opens up the story for everyone.
No differently-able status needed
A friend of mine is a theater owner and stage director. That means he selects plays, casts actors, builds sets, and more often than not, sweeps up after. Audiobooks not only give him the chance to experience great new stories even as he works on tedious repairs or paints a new backdrop.
Reading, by any means, isn’t for every person. I get that. Funny thing though, I have a (completely unscientific) theory that many of the folks who hate on audiobooks do so to make themselves feel better about some deficiency in themselves. Like, maybe, not consuming books in any form. At all. Ever. I have known folks like that, who get punchy at the very mention of books. They're also typically the people who want to ban books. Different rant, different time.
Down-nosing someone’s method of reading won’t make the “joker” feel better about their lack of reading or, you know, whatever the issue may be.
If you haven’t tried it…
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True story: when I was 14, I discovered Frank Herbert’s Dune. That book changed my life. Herbert’s world expanded my own world-view WAY beyond east-Texas-redneck hell. I read the first two books in four days. I reread the first book while waiting for the third and forth books to cycle back into the library.
Ms. Jewel, the kindly librarian, took note of my interest and told me a fifth book was due out, any day. Yay, right? It could not possibly get any better. Then Ms. Jewel put a book of cassettes in my hand.
The tapes were key scenes from Dune read by the author. Initially, I was unenthusiastic. I had a very special relationship with that book that I didn’t want messed with. But still, I hungered for anything in that world, so I listened.
Was his voice rich and soothing? Nah, not really. Nor did he have a great command of drama but he did love the story and that love came through in every well enunciated syllable. There is no way for me to express the joy in listening to Frank Herbert read the banquet scene.
It’s money that matters
Aside from the delight of a story well-delivered, I love the idea of another income stream for my beloved authors. I have written at length about how terrible the compensation model is for writers, (like, .15¢ on the dollar is considered a good deal). Audiobooks open new avenues to new readers. You want accessible stories? The author needs to pay the bills. Audiobooks = win/win.
Somewhere else when you can’t go anywhere
I taught school for a year. It was traumatic for all parties involved. After a week of instruction focused on standardized tests, I made a point of reading to the kids for an hour every Friday. We never had discipline problems during story time. Kids started checking out the books I read to them from the library. Attendance improved on Fridays. During the last week of school, the teachers and I tag-teamed taking the kids out for extended recess/free-play. My kids always wanted me to read to them more than they wanted to spontaneously combust on a south-Texas playground. I like to think that the appeal was the stories and not just the air conditioning.
It’s the way books make us feel
We may forget but I don’t think we ever truly lose our first love of stories—our first stories, read by a loving human. Don Cheadle is a loving human who LOVES Walter Mosley’s prose. That love in common comes through in his reading of Fear Itself. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Karen Olivo bring Junot Diaz’ The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao to loving FUN effect. That is ultimately what audiobooks are: love from an author, to a reader, via a skilled medium who delivers with love.
These are just the two I’ve experienced. There are thousands of other stories, read by talented people, just waiting to be found. Check them out and hear the magic for yourself.
The photos above do not belong ot me. They iare used here for educational/instructive purposes and covered by the Fair Use Doctrine.
