Audiobook buddies
You never know where you will find a fellow audiobook enthusiast. I hitched a ride with my co-worker, theater critic Mary Carole McCauley, and the front seat of her car looked a lot like mine. It was stacked with books on CD. I asked Mary to tell us what she is listening to, and where she finds such great titles! Here's Mary: I'm an inveterate listener of books on CD my car. I go through three or four books from the Enoch Pratt Free Library each month. Because of their seductive charms, my blood pressure no longer hits stratospheric heights when I'm rushing to the theater, only to be caught in an inevitable traffic jam. But, after years of sitting in my Mini Cooper with the engine running because I can't stand to go inside before I've finished the chapter, I've realized there's an art to selecting the right titles.
A good book on tape should be long on plot, but short on complex character motivations or detailed descriptions of scenery. You want to concentrate enough to be pleasantly distracted, but not so distracted that you cut off the semi bearing down on your left. Perhaps for that reason, the ideal book on tape is not necessarily the same as the book on your nightstand. You don't want to "spoil" a nuanced piece of fiction by experiencing it with only part of your brain.
Some of my favorites include anything by Joyce Carol Oates. ...
We Were the Mulvaneys is probably the most satisfying of the three novels of hers that I have completed so far, in the way that it explores the breakdown of a seemingly perfect American family. The Gravedigger's Daughter tells the story of a young German immigrant who claws her way up in the world after violence claims the lives of the rest of her family. And My Sister, My Love: The Intimate Story of Skyler Rampike was clearly inspired by a notorious unsolved murder case involving a real-life family with a similar last name.
On a very different vein, I can't resist anything by P.G. Wodehouse, creator of that quintessential gentleman's gentleman, Jeeves. The listener quickly realizes what a consummate craftsman Wodehouse was, how carefully he honed every phrase and metaphor. The tone is light, and it's great fun to go back to an era when wearing black tails for dinner was considered dressing down."
Thanks Mary!
