Blasts from the Past, Day 3

Today we move forward to my long association with Books On Tape, which began when Flo Gibson negotiated a contract to produce recordings for them around 1985, and ended shortly after Random House purchased the company in 2000. Since there was only one booth at Flo's, Sigrid Hecht of BOT asked several of us if we would be willing to record at home. In order not to upset Flo, she suggested that perhaps we could narrate under different names. Thus began decades of confusion over who was actually narrating many of the hundreds of books produced by Books On Tape each year. It didn't matter to us--who ever thought you'd become famous narrating audiobooks? Heh! In the end no one was really fooled by this arrangement, but it kept the peace.

Unfortunately, the bulk of things I recorded for BOT (as Grover Gardner and alternately, "Alexander Adams") have disappeared from their catalogue. They reside on the shelves of their Los Angeles studio, but it's doubtful any of them will ever see the light of day again. Either the audio rights have expired or the recordings were too dated to consider digitalizing. Just to give you an idea of what's sitting there collecting dust: John Gardner's October Light and The Sunlight Dialogues; nearly all of Elmore Leonard's books; the entire Story of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant (yes, I recorded all eleven volumes, or about 11,000 pages); Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent, The Burden of Proof, Pleading Guilty and The Laws of Our Fathers; the entire Fletch series by Gregory MacDonald; Gore Vidal's American history epic, beginning with Burr and ending with Hollywood (I was especially fond of Lincoln); The Glory and the Dream by William Manchester; Cormac McCarthy's Border trilogy; John Grisham's A Time to Kill; and dozens of others. I also recorded most of David McCullough's books, including the marvelous Truman, but some of these have been re-recorded with Ed Herrmann, and you can't ask for a better replacement than that. Some of them aren't things I would weep over, but others I was very proud of and wish they were still available.

But what's the use crying over spilt milk? A few things have survived, including the one of the last recordings I made for Books On Tape before we parted company: William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. Talk about a labor of love! I had to keep the Cliff Notes handy in order to navigate this dense and challenging work. Especially difficult is the first section, in which Benjy's consciousness flips back and forth in time, with very few written cues as to what is happening when, and italicized passages to top it all off. But I think I made it about as clear as it could be. Jason's acidic rantings in the third section were especially enjoyable to perform. All in all it's one of the recordings I'm most proud of, and it's still doing service on Audible and, mirabile dictu, in retail.

Blasts from the Past, Day 2

Well, yesterday's post got a nice response. Seems people are rather curious about "the old days" of audiobook recording. In the 30's and 40's (well before my time, of course), "talking books" were recorded on vinyl discs that played at 16 3/4 rpm and lasted about 30 minutes. Page turns and minor slips went uncorrected. If you really fumbled it you had to start all over again on a fresh disc. Then reel-to-reel came along, but because of the way the Library of Congress recorded the tapes, on both sides at 3 3/4 speed, you couldn't cut them up. Retakes had to be punched in and punched out on the fly. If the engineer's finger slipped and you recorded over the start of the following sentence, you had to record that sentence again. If you slipped once more and went over the mark, you had to redo the next sentence, and so on and so forth. Young engineers these days marvel at how I can exactly reproduce the timing of a re-take. I had a lot of practice!

Did I mention that we smoked in the booth? It wasn't unusual to have a cigarette going in the ashtray and pause for a few puffs between paragraphs. Hard to imagine these days.

Flo Gibson was a larger-than-life personality in more ways than one. She was very tall--"statuesque" would have been the polite word back then--while her husband Charles was very short and rattled around the house like a character from a Wodehouse novel. The stairs to the basement were narrow and steep, and Flo would hurl herself down them in a state of perpetual haste. Sometimes this was a literal phenomenon and she would end up in a heap at the bottom of the steps. In one of these plunges she broke her neck (really) and this was the start of some of the physical problems that plagued her in later years. Eventually she had an elevator installed that could take her from her bedroom directly to the recording booth two floors below.

Flo held a rather idealized view of her favorite authors. A spunky young woman who was engineering one of her Edith Wharton recordings remarked that she found a certain passage "sexy." Flo stopped dead in her tracks, glared at the poor thing through the glass window of the booth and replied frostily, "There is no sex in Edith Wharton!"

I did a lot of nifty recordings for Audio Book Contractors, including a special translation of Dante's The Divine Comedy by a local college professor that attempted to explicate the many topical references without resorting to lengthy footnotes. It read very well, actually, and can still be found on Audible. I also recorded Cyrano de Bergerac and King Lear, O. Henry and Arthur Conan Doyle, and a host of other entertaining things. One book I do NOT remember recording was Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde--yet there it is on Audible, much to my surprise, along with a highly complimentary review. I listened to the sample and was startled to hear myself reading something I simply don't recall having done. (Must have been all that wine.) But it's definitely me, and it's not bad at all, if I do say so. Back then, when there were few British narrators working in America, we Americans did a lot of classic British lit, using a sort of "faux" accent that resembled a cross between Basil Rathbone and Alexander Scourby. Nowadays we get real Brits to do these things, of course.

Blasts from the Past, Day 1

As my contribution to June Is Audiobook Month, I'm going to do a post a day about books that I've particularly enjoyed recording over the course of my career--those that are still available, of course. Even if you don't want to listen to them, you might get some good ideas for reading!

Today we'll set the Audiobook Wayback Machine to 1984 when I was a young narrator for the Talking Books program in Washington D.C. and was invited by Flo Gibson to join her fledgling company, Audio Book Contractors.

Flo passed away earlier this year after a long and fruitful career narrating the great classics. She managed to top a thousand titles before failing health made it impossible for her to record. We young folks would take the bus over to Foxhall Road, a very ritzy part of D.C., where the maid would admit us to the basement of her palatial Georgian home. Usually there were snacks or hors d'euvres left over from some fancy event the night before, and we'd walk to a nearby gourmet store and buy a bottle of wine to sip while working. On hot summer days we could take a dip in the pool. Flo's husband Charles, a retired Chilean diplomat educated at Eton, would occasionally drop downstairs to chat and offer the fellows a cigar. At some point Flo was sure to burst in and whirl around for awhile, complaining about an argument she was having with Polly Roosevelt or boasting about her lunch with Barbara Bush. It was a remarkable place to work. Eventually she started contracting to Books On Tape, which is what launched several of us on our commercial careers.

Anyway, one of the first titles I did for her was The Aspern Papers by Henry James. It's remained a favorite of mine after all these years. There are several version on Audible, but I'm amazed at how well this one holds up, even though the recording was sourced from old reel-to-reel tapes. I was probably smoking a cigar and sipping Cabernet as I read, which would account for some of the liberties I took in the more dramatic passages! The climactic scene sends chills down my spine to this day.

And don't you love the cover? This is for the Audible re-issue. Always frugal, Flo kept packaging costs low by photocopying typewritten cassette labels and tucking arty postcards into the plastic slipcases.

Latest from the "Couldn't Put It Down" Department...

Morag Joss's Among the Missing is a brilliant take on a theme explored by Thornton Wilder in his famous novel, The Bridge of San Luis Rey--how fate or coincidence causes the lives of random people to converge in extraordinary ways. The three characters presented in the novel are all at crisis points in their lives. Ron has just been released from jail after serving time for causing a bus accident that took the lives of a group of school children. Anabel is a slightly frowsy forty-something whose marriage to a man she met online is disrupted when she learns she is pregnant. Sylva is an illegal Polish immigrant who lives with her husband and child in an abandoned trailer.

When a bridge collapses in Inverness, Scotland, these three people are thrown together in circumstances that will test their collective courage and their individual sanity.

Joss is the author of a popular mystery series and several stand-alone thrillers. This is a hybrid--part thriller, part literary fiction. She combines a beautiful writing style with rich characters and taut plotting. I picked this up with the intent of skimming it for casting purposes, but ended up reading it in one sitting. Couldn't. Put It. Down. The casting was challenging, especially the role of Sylva, but I couldn't be happier with the results. In fact, our proofer, Alison Raleigh, emailed me just yesterday saying she was completely blown away by the book and the performances, and was off to the bookstore to find more by this author.

Among the Missing is narrated by Robin Sachs, Kate Reading and Cassandra Campbell for Blackstone Ausio and will be released on June 21.

My previous entry in the "Couldn't Put It Down" Department was Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, which has become a huge hit with rave reviews for the novel and the audio production. If you haven't listened to that one yet, by all means do so. And don't miss Among the Missing, it's a winner.

Recent Projects

It's been a busy spring, I'm happy to say, and I haven't had the luxury of blogging, but I'm way overdue and feel the urge again, so I'll indulge in a spate of posts while the inspiration lasts.




Drinking with Miss Dutchie by Ed Breslin, for Blackstone Audio--A short, sweet paean to man's best friend from a guy who learned the hard way. Breslin was a two-fisted drinker and smoker whose marriage and over-driven career were teetering on the edge of disaster when he came up with a scheme to distract his wife from bugging him about his self-destructive behavior. Buy her a dog! Yeah, that'll do it! The result was a gradual but dramatic turn-around in his own life, due in large part to Miss Dutchie and her endearing ways.

Labrador owners will particularly relish this one. We joined the club two years ago when we adopted Maggie the Blonde Bombshell, the happiest dog in the world. Now she has an adopted sister, Ruby the Black Madonna of the Bedroom, a huge Lab-Newfie mix who situates herself on the bed all day and barks for room service.

The ending is about as wrenching as you'd expect, so be prepared. But it's a wonderful reminder of the effect that animals can have on our lives.




Secretariat by William Nack, for Audible.com--A terrific story, as you might expect. It's not quite the rags-to-riches tale that made Seabiscuit such a heart-warming favorite, but it's a fascinating glimpse into the world of horse racing and breeding. There are plenty of engaging characters and some excellent descriptive writing. Nack lays solid groundwork for a rousing finish that doesn't disappoint.
And that was one amazing animal. It wasn't until i watched a video of the 1973 Belmont Stakes that I realized what all the fuss was about. Simply incredible.

As part of my preparation I watched the movie, a rather lackluster Disney production with some amateurish acting and editing. I'm generally a fan of John Malkovich, when he's cast well, but he looks so uncomfortable here playing a "good guy" that it sets your teeth on edge. And his "French"! Was a language coach not part of the budget, or what? Anyway, the racing scenes are well done and worth a download or rental if you're interested in complimenting the book.




Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov, for Gildan Media--Every teacher and parent should read this. It's a "how-to" for some of the most effective teaching techniques in circulation today. Lemov is the founder of Uncommon Schools, a training and evaluation center that has turned out terrific teachers and helped establish a string of wildly successful charter schools in the Northeast. Watching the accompanying videos (available online for purchasers of the book) makes you realize what an exhausting, but ultimately rewarding, job it is to teach at this level. Even if you aren't a teacher, the book helps you understand the challenges of running an effective classroom. As a parent I found it helpful in homework sessions, in terms of staying focused on the work and engaging more fully with my daughter in her lessons.

Yeah, I know, lucky daughter!




We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, for Tantor Media--The grandaddy of futuristic dystopian novels and a precursor to the more famous 1984. Written in the form of a fictional diary, the novel tracks the spiritual awakening of D-503, a drone-like member of a future society in which everything is made of glass, such that no thought or activity can be concealed from the leaders of One State. There are strikingly imaginative touches and some unforgettable images. As far as I know this is the first time the book will be available in audio, and fans of dystopian sci-fi should not miss it.




Babbit by Sinclair Lewis, for Blackstone Audio--Perhaps not Lewis' greatest achievement, but it's one of my favorites, after Dodsworth, and it's a wonderful chance to ham it up a bit, if I may say so. It was particularly interesting to me coming on the heels of We, in the sense that Babbitt undergoes a brief but explosive "awakening," only to be brought back into line by the forces of conformity. And it's disturbingly relevant to recent trends in politics and society, if ya know what I mean.




The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, for Blackstone Audio--Okay, if you want to feel like you work for bastards and your life isn't worth two cents, read this. I mean, this book can lead to some serious paranoia. No, I'd never read it in school, so the impact has been fresh and potent. I thoroughly enjoyed Oil, which I narrated for Blackstone two years ago. That book, though less famous than The Jungle, is a satirical juggernaut bursting with rich characters and dialogue. (If you've only seen the movie, There Will Be Blood, do yourself a favor and read the book. You can't really understand what a hideous botch the film was until you do.) The Jungle, of course, is another matter. What makes it so damnably compelling is the same power of hope and salvation that drives Jurgis Rudkus in his quest to find some humanity in the world. Will someone, somewhere, give this guy a break?

Plus, you'll never eat deviled ham again.

Authors on Deck

An article by physicist Lawrence Krauss in today's Wall Street Journal ("The Lies of Science Writing") reminded me to post about some marvelous author reads coming up for Blackstone.

The idea of having authors read their own books is a controversial one in the audiobook business. Sometimes the effect can be splendid, as when T. C. Boyle (Tortilla Curtain, Wild Child and Other Stories), Rick Bragg (Ava's Man, The Most They Ever Had) and David Sedaris, among others, exceed expectations by bringing vividness and warmth to their own creations. In other cases, the results can be disappointing--or even downright disastrous. (I won't names names--all audio publishers have a few of these to their credit--but this unfortunate series of customer comments on Audible gives you an idea of how badly things can go.)

Whenever an agent or book publisher casually remarks, "Oh, by the way, the author is interested in narrating the book..." a lump forms in the pit of my stomach, and I immediately begin thinking of ways to discourage such folly. Writers often live in remote places, far from an appropriate recording venue. Generally a specialized director has be brought in at no small expense. And the process itself can be agonizing--I am familiar with at least one instance of a famous politician who required literally thousands of edits because he couldn't read a whole sentence (no, it wasn't "W") and another case in which a celebrity author didn't make it through her ghost-written autobiography because she couldn't pronounce most of the vocabulary and wasn't familiar with the events and people as related in the book!

When they go well, there are advantages to author reads. You don't have to struggle with research (at least most of the time); there's a natural connect between the text and the reader; and the absence of slickness and polish lends an unforced, authentic feel. In addition, retail outlets are more interested in carrying the audio version if the author reads the book, and you've got a better shot at a Grammy--all the Spoken Word nominations this year went to author reads!


Whatever the joys and hazards, Blackstone is fortunate to have several super author reads coming up, which brings me back to Lawrence Krauss, who will be coming to Blackstone's studios in Ashland later this month to narrate his new book, Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science, to be released in March of next year. Professor Krauss narrated an abridged version of his book The Physics of Star Trek some years back. He is a gifted, engaging public speaker and a superstar in the world of physics. This will be a lively and authoritative experience for Feynman fans as well as anyone interested in popular science.


Ron Reagan has written a wonderful new book about his father, the former President. Entitled My Father at 100, it's an affectionate look at this remarkable and, in many ways, enigmatic man. Recording sessions were recently completed at Cedar House Audio in Seattle, where Ron lives, and the results are terrific. Regardless of your political persuasion, this will be a intriguing listen. The book hits the stores on January 18th.


Finally, Andre Dubus III arrives in Ashland next week to record Townie: A Memoir. Andre's latest book details his own youth in a small, violence-ridden Massachusetts town and explores the strange relationship with his father that eventually pushed him towards a career in writing and virtually saved his life. Most of you will be familiar with at least the movie version of his best-selling novel, The House of Sand and Fog. If you haven't heard Andre's recording of the book, performed in tandem with his wife, you owe it to yourself to give it a listen. It's a wonderful performance--what it lacks in ultimate polish it more than makes up for in utter conviction and total command of the story and characters. I expect that his approach to the story of his own life will be equally, if not more, compelling. Townie: A Memoir pubs at the end of February.

Chalmers Johnson

Chalmers Johnson, the brilliant and famously contrarian foreign policy expert, passed away on Saturday. Steve Clemons has written an interesting summary of his career for The Washington Note.

Johnson published Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire just prior to 9/11. After the tragedy, the book was so much in demand that the publisher ran out of stock and had to initiate several new print runs. An updated edition was published in 2004. His other major books--Nemesis, The Sorrows of Empire and Dismantling the Empire--variously explore the perils of a militaristic, imperialist foreign policy. All have been produced for audio by Blackstone and are available at our website or digitally at Audible, iTunes and other download venues.