Do You Hear What I Hear?

I love audiobooks. I love how I can still be “reading” a book even when I’m already in bed, lying in the darkness.

Some audiobooks are read by the author. This fact I especially enjoy when listening to poetry anthologies, much like how my significant other enjoys listening to Hitler’s speeches (shudder). I had fun listening to the audio versions of humorist David Sedaris’s books which he read himself. It was amusing how gay he sounded, which was perfect since most of his essays are about his exciting homosexual life.

Other times the audiobook is dramatized with a full cast. This is like being in a stage play, wearing a blindfold. Or, it can be likened to those AM radio dramas, our grandparents’ version of the telenovela.

For honing my spy skills, language lessons on audiobooks are essential. As of now I can say “I would like some coffee with milk” in twelve languages. (I’m exaggerating a bit. Poetic license.)

And of course, there are the audiocodals. Now you can study in the dark, while taking a crap, dreaming awake or asleep. This is law school following you anywhere, anytime.

But the greatest advantage of audiobooks is that now, blind people can “read” books too, and more frequently, since audiobooks are more available and accessible than Braille.

Ah, technology. Amazing.

Hear, hear.