Are you a tapeworm?

Mon, 11/30/2009 - 8:35pm by DavidQ

Have you ever heard Neil Gaiman read one of his own stories... or talk on the radio? He's got a voice that just won't quit. Deep, expressive, and British. His readings of his own books Coraline and Fragile Things made for some of my favorite summer reading... or should I say summer listening.

I woke up this morning to hear Gaiman on Morning Edition talking about audio books and why he loves them so much. He talked about growing up in a family with an abiding love of telling stories and reading books out loud. Maybe this is what comes across in his own audiobooks and that I love.

In his piece for NPR this morning, he talked to David Sedaris who also reads many of his own humorous memoirs. In fact, Sedaris's voice may be the very opposite of Gaiman's: squeeky and American. It won't quit either but for different reasons. Sedaris calls himself a "tapeworm": another lover of the audiobook who can't remember a road trip that didn't include stories being read on the stereo. Sedaris's best quote may be: "I wouldn't fight for my freedom, but I would fight for my iPod." That's pretty strong language, David.

Gaiman also talks to Martin Jarvis who has made a successful career as a reader of audiobooks. I liked Jarvis's idea that audio books are definitely a different expression of the book, but a book nonetheless. Gaiman talks about the second class that we assign to audio books and defends them for the genuine literary experience that they afford. Oral storytelling is a lost art, so Gaiman's reflections rang true.