Read me a story, Brad Pitt

It’s an older article, but Slate Magazine has a terrific piece about the importance of narration in the quality of audiobooks, from hard boiled fiction to urban sociology. Read Me a Story, Brad Pitt is subtitled “When audiobook casting goes terribly wrong,” and gives examples of the three most common — and easily avoided — mistakes that audiobook publishers make.

I recommend that you always listen to the audio sample provided at Audible.com or the iTunes Store before making a purchase. Audiobooks can be expensive, and mistakes add up to real money fast.

Related posts:

  1. Audiobook Recommendations
  2. App Review: Audible Audiobook Player
  3. How to Import Audio CD Audiobooks into iTunes
  4. How to Import MP3 Audiobooks into iTunes

3 thoughts on “Read me a story, Brad Pitt”

  1. I couldn’t agree more about the importance of narration. There was a Nora Roberts series that had an interesting premise and I very much wanted to listen to the entire series. But the narrator’s voice was so irritating that I stopped before the end of the first CD. Thank goodness that was back when I still had a ‘rental subscription”, so it really didn’t cost me anything but the time to go return the set. Now I avoid audiobooks with that narrator. When I complained to Brilliance about her, they said they were surprised that I did not like her narration because she is an award winning actress. My response was that being an award winning actress does not necessarily make one an award winning reader. Witness the Brad Pitt example. Now when I buy an audiobook, I always listen to a sample before I buy. I have a subscription to audible.com and love the selection and convenience. Wanda in Edmonton

  2. Hi,
    I appreciate your posts as I would love to have an MP3 player that also has navigational capability (i.e. like the Garmin), but I don’t know if the Garmin has bookmarking capability like the ipod. Have you any info about the Garmin’s ability for bookmarking?

    Anyway, I also wanted to mention another great audiobook reader, Davina Porter. She reads for the Outlander series (unabridged) by Diana Gabaldon. This is the main reason I’m looking into an MP3 player. . the cost of CDs is prohibitive to get all 7 books. Davina does an excellent job with different English and Scottish accents for the characters. I highly recommend the books as they have a great balance of themes and interest (romance, military history, fantasy, adventure). Great fun.

    Thanks!

    Melissa

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