The Untold Story of the Talking Book

by Matthew Rubery, Jim Denison (Narrator)

Histories of the book often move straight from the codex to the digital screen. Left out of that familiar account is nearly 150 years of audio recordings. Recounting the fascinating history of audio-recorded literature, Matthew Rubery traces the path of innovation from Edison's recitation of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" for his tinfoil phonograph in 1877, to the first novel-length talking books made for blinded World War I veterans, to today's billion-dollar audiobook industry.The Untold Story of the Talking Book focuses on the social impact of audiobooks, not just the technological history, in telling a story of surprising and impassioned conflicts: from controversies over which books the Library of Congress selected to become talking books―yes to Kipling, no to Flaubert―to debates about what defines a reader. Delving into the vexed relationship between spoken and printed texts, Rubery argues that storytelling can be just as engaging with the ears as with the eyes, and that audiobooks deserve to be taken seriously. They are not mere derivatives of printed books but their own form of entertainment.We have come a long way from the era of sound recorded on wax cylinders, when people imagined one day hearing entire novels on mini-phonographs tucked inside their hats. Rubery tells the untold story of this incredible evolution and, in doing so, breaks from convention by treating audiobooks as a distinctively modern art form that has profoundly influenced the way we read.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Books About Books, Disability, Technology, Writing

12 pages, Audio CD

First published November 14, 2016

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been listening to audiobooks since the 1940s. But since about 2007 I have listened to audiobooks as my primary reading method due to vision problems. I know that audiobooks are becoming very popular so I was excited to read this book about “The Untold Story of the Talking Books”.

The book is well written and researched but is a little dry here and there as it bogged down in esoteric detail and repetition, but overall it was an interesting book. The author spends sometime on a discussion whether listening to an audiobook is really reading. He also went into what part of the brain is used if it is tactile (Braille) audio or visual reading. Rubery discusses books in various formats but spends some time on the relationship of the suburban sprawl and the rise of audiobooks with commuters. Rubery briefly reviews the history of talking books all the way back to Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell. The author also covered the books for the blind both audio and Braille. Rubery spends sometime on how critical the narrator choice for the book is. He also states as the books become more popular well-known actors as well as voice- over artists have been recruited to narrate the books. At the end of the book, Rubery attempted to look into what the future of audiobooks and reading habits will be. Generally, I found the book quite interesting.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book was eleven and a half hours long. Jim Denison does a good job narrating the book. Denison is a voice- over artist and audiobook narrator.

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a truly fascinating 'read'. I have long been using audiobooks to supplement my voracious reading habits - mostly because I am able to perform other tasks at the same time as listening to a book, making me feel like I am using my time so much more efficiently. I am often asked whether I am truly reading if I am listening? ...and I often feel like I have to apologise for listening to a book rather than 'reading' it as if I am somehow doing something lesser?

Is 'reading' just a visual task, or can you be 'reading' if you are only listening? If listening is not 'reading' then what is it? Is listening just a passive activity? Can 'reading' only be done if if requires effort and time - and that you give up your free time to compete that task? Interesting questions indeed. And the mark of any good book in my opinion - is whether it stimulates debate, conversation and passion! So this book certainly ticks all those boxes.

In summary - this book was really interesting. The author gave us the history of the talking book, the use of talking books for the visually impaired, the technology challenges that were faced, and interestingly the issues of censorship (or perceived censorship) when it came to choosing titles to be turned into audiobooks. And then he moved onto the problems of formats, delivery to the customers, pricing, abridged vs unabridged and which narrator to choose. This was an all -encompassing look at the history (and future) of the audiobook. Definitely worth a 'read'.!!

[Biblio Files (takingadayoff) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The history of the Talking book, aka audiobooks (or audio books, books on tape, etc.) is as old as the history of recorded sound. Thomas Edison's first recording was a recital of the first lines of Mary Had a Little Lamb, and he envisioned recorded books as one of the ways his invention would be used.

Matthew Rubery takes us from the days when recorded books were used mostly by the blind, to today, when almost everyone has some audiobooks on their smartphone. The books have mutated from simple readings without any bells or whistles, to the overproduced radio dramas with music and casts of dozens. He touches on a variety of issues connected with audiobooks, such as the big question of whether you can "read" an audiobook. Another controversy is whether to abridge or not. The story of how Books on Tape and Recorded Books made audiobooks popular among commuters is an interesting one.

The book is refreshingly free of academic jargon, but there is a hint of snobbery when Rubery unnecessarily talks of how the reputation of audiobooks was not helped by their appearance in spinner racks at truck stops. I don't know why truck drivers wouldn't also want to listen to audiobooks for the same reasons that stockbrokers with long commutes do -- education and entertainment.

Quite a fascinating story of a book format I usually just take for granted.

[Brenna Hanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I DNF'd this one. While I'm fascinated in knowing the history behind audiobooks and recording books, I've heard all of the arguments against "listening" as reading and the book go to be a little preachy and redundant. Also, the narrator for the audio version sounds like a robot! I mean, come on... there's a whole chapter about getting the right narrator... hello? I will probably not revisit this one.

[Mehrsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I devoured this book because I am an audible addict and I thought there would be more in here about what it means to listen to books vs. reading and an exploration of the reasons people are so judgmental about listening to books as being the same thing. But the book is what it says it is--literally, a history of the talking book. It's pretty dry, but with some very fascinating tidbits. Audio books started as a government subsidized project for the blind and the author really explores how authors and readers felt about the first books. Also fascinating is the censorship by the selection committees--like the blind would only get to read classics and not current fluff fiction or smut. Those debates were interesting, but it was hardly necessary for the author to explore them both in the states and in the UK as it covered the same themes. Then audio books moved to the upper middle class commuter market--smart people who didn't have time to read. And then the book sort of stops short of talking about our current age and the future. He does mention that the voices will likely soon be automated and we can decide what narrator we would like. I, for one, can't wait. I am a reader who doesn't love a dramatic narration. I like it told straight and I speed it up so automation will be nice. But I mostly listen to nonfiction history books (like this one) so I don't often listen to actors doing the classics though I certainly have on occasion. I wanted to know more about fast listening--there are a bunch of people now that I know of who are in the 3speed or higher club. It feels very comfortable to me at that speed (though it took me some time to get comfortable with it). I wanted to hear more about the science on auditory cognition vs. visual. Perhaps that's another book I'll have to listen to at speed.

[Verónica Juárez · Rating 5 out of 5]

En breve la reseña en mi blog.

[Robin Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

150 years of audio recordings. Who knew? What defines a reader, or a book? That and much more.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very repetitive. First, there is the introduction, which ran for an hour and 15 minutes in which the author explains what he will be telling us in the book - chapter by chapter. As I was listening, I actually found myself saying aloud "blah blah blah". I thought about stopping then, but kept going. At the start of each chapter, the author again tells us what he'll be telling us in the chapter. Then we hear the chapter, after which he summarizes what he told us in the chapter. On top of that, some of the chapters repeat things from earlier chapters. And, he refers to chapters a lot. This could have been an interesting history at about a third of its length and if written in a more flowing, narrative style.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh man do I miss academic reading. This book is deeply interesting, dryly funny, and ruthlessly comprehensive. The best kind of book opens up more books to you. My only decision now is how I'll read them.

[Shane Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting history. I did not know the 'recorded books' when back to the 1930's with records. There has been a lot more activity in the last 15 years as technology has opened avenues. There are a lot of repetitive themes that seem redundant to hear over and over. Overall it was interesting

[Maura Roo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been listening to an audiobook about the history of audiobooks. (Tell me you're a nerd without telling me you're a nerd).

[Juemin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been an interesting question for me since I started Audible over a year ago: what difference does it make whether we read a book or listen to it, which is also the opening of this book.

Rubery, a young scholar in modern literature, conveys the rich history of audiobook straightforward, covering over a hundred years starting from Edison's invention of the first first phonograph record in 1877, to the Library of Congress's talking book collections for the blind, and nowadays's evolutionary and increasing popularity of audiblebooks. Audiobooks, or talking books, have evolved from faithfully representations of print books to theatrical reinterpretations of literature, from serving for blind or vision impaired to general public, who has no time to read or don't like to read at all.

Rubery gives lists of classic talking books over different periods of the talking book history. Some of them are very interesting, like the History of Classical Music and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, very unique.

This is a history book. You can find a lot of fun facts of talking books, as well as its mundane details. As I search for the answer of the opening question, I listened to the book first, enjoying the history and scholar's well-organized perspectives. Still, the sound of the book dodges my intention. Therefore, I went through the first and the last chapters again, which I think are more interesting and enjoy most, by reading.

[Bon Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, an audiobook lover, this was fantastic. The book (listened to, of course:) is full of insights that any experienced audiobook listener can identify with. Many of them were like "oh yes, that's what I always felt like/doubted/had hunch about but never exactly turned into words". And distinction between reading as a process that happens "between the ears" (which is the same place as "behind the eyes") and sensory modality is great. Reading is the same process, no matter whether one acquires the raw material by this or that sensory modality. Reading by listening is not any less of a "reading" than reading by looking (glancing) at the written page. If anything, with technology of today that enables easy rewind by push of a button, it's more since there are multiple channels by which mnemonics can be engaged (dramatizations, tone of voice, articulations...). So, in my experience, audiobook penetrates deeper and remains better remembered than one read to you... well, by yourself. This book only confirmed what I knew first hand. Listening to someone tell a story is first, genuine form of "book reading". Everything that came after is only substitute for that, I would say, primal experience that engages a reader spontaneously, naturally and completely. This is a must for all audio readers out there.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but rather dry account of the history and possible future of audiobooks. He spends a lot of time with audio for the blind--the politics of choosing titles and narrators--as it lay the foundation for audiobooks for all with early purveyors (Caedmon and Books on Tape) to a discussion of Audible. For me, interesting discussion of narrators--better to have "name" readers who might attract listeners beyond the earbud crowd or skilled narrators? should the books be read with inflection not? worth a read or a listen.

[LoLo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This guy has obviously done his research and I applaud him for that, some of this information was really interesting. However he's written this book like a PhD thesis and makes little attempt to engage his audience or to interact with them. This is not helped by a narrator that delivers a largely monotonous and unfeeling performance and shows little self awareness during the section on the importance of a good narrator.

I often found myself drifting off and not feeling at all like I was missing out.

[Edwin Wong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, Rubery’s book is available in audiobook format on Audible! Imagine the scandal if the book on audiobooks wasn’t available in audiobook format.

I came across this book at one of the smaller regional libraries. It was a pleasant surprise to see them stock such a specialized title. Last month I signed up with Findaway Voices to make my book: The Risk Theatre Model of Tragedy: Gambling, Drama, and the Unexpected into an audiobook and I wanted to learn more about this burgeoning format. Findaway hooked me up with actor Greg Patmore, who’s been on Coronation Street and Hatfields and McCoys. This is such an exciting process, as audiobooks, while starting off from a small base, have, in the last few years, had the most explosive sales growth versus print and eBooks. Several work colleagues reaffirmed the publisher stats when they mentioned that their wives were audiobook fans.

The Greater Victoria Public Library has about a million print titles in circulation. It has one book on audiobooks and it just happened to be at the Juan de Fuca branch where I happened to be. It was surprising that they only had one book–Rubery’s book–on audiobooks, but I can see why now: there’s not too many books out there on the history of audiobooks. As Rubery points out, audiobooks are the Rodney Dangerfield of the publishing industry: they don’t get any respect.

The history of the audiobook has been a series of fits and starts. When Edison introduced the first phonograph in 1877, he spoke of the day when audiobooks would take over. The technology, however, for the phonograph to capture books, wouldn’t arrive for decades: books were simply too long for the first wax cylinders.

The first consumers for audiobooks were blind veterans from the First World War. The first audiobook controversy took place between supporters of braille and audiobook enthusiasts. Highbrow readers worried that the audiobook would detract from the drive to teach braille. Also, a secondary controversy arose as Library of Congress committees decided which books would be recorded as audiobooks. As you could expect, the committees’ decisions would often conflict with public taste. Charges of censorship or lewdness were flung over dividing line of public taste and tolerance.

As audiobooks gained a following outside the blind community, further controversies arose: should listening to an audiobook be considered equivalent to reading? Should the audiobook narrator perform the narration, or read the book in a neutral, monotone voice? Performing a dramatic reading, in some circles, was frowned upon: the speaker should let the words speak for themselves, some said. A neutral tone was closer to the act of reading, would let listeners use their imagination to fill in the action. But some thought: why not hire a famous actor to perform and add drama to the narration?

For my own book, I went with the most famous person I could find to bring the book to life. I wanted a performance. I made the decision prior to reading Rubery’s book. I now understand why some of the auditions I heard on Findaway Voices sounded so dry: many people who listen to audiobooks enjoy a dry and neutral presentation. There’s even a small group of listeners that like listening to audiobooks spoken by computer voices. That way the reading gets out of the way of their interpretation. But I find that unreasonable. Let’s say I go to see a play at the theatre. Would I want to see a dry and less dramatic performance so that I could use my imagination to flesh out the playwright’s genius? No way! I want to see how the actors and director interpret the play. And I thought the same with my book: the audience is paying for a performance, give them one!

After the Library of Congress talking books of the 1930s, the next big event was the commercialization of audiobooks in the 1950s. Caedmon Records, founded by Barbara Holdridge and Marianne Mantell, took the audiobook to the next level. Instead of recording what highbrow committees wanted, they recorded what listeners wanted to hear. Have you ever wanted to hear Camus, T.S. Eliot, Joyce, Mann, Plath, Dylan Thomas, or Yeats perform their own works? Recordings were available through Caedmon. Caedmon recordings were also dramatic, as opposed to the neutral Library of Congress recordings. And the most brilliant marketing play of Caedmon was that they reminded listeners that literature was originally performed by bards before there were books. Bards like Homer or Hesiod. There was a long oral tradition before books came along. In this way, audiobooks were literature. And even more real literature than books, which had been around for a shorter period of time.

After Caedmon, Rubery talks about the advances in audiobooks from the cassette tape in the 80s to the CD in the 90s to Amazon and downloadable MP3 audiobook today. This reminds me. The historian Francis Fukuyama had argued that history ends with the arrival of democratic and capitalist societies. Perhaps he was wrong? Instead, perhaps history ends with Amazon? The point of the democratic capitalist societies was to produce this thing called Amazon, the shopping centre of the world where all things are bought, sold, and now produced (Amazon bought Audible, which is an audiobook publisher)? That is, of course, a joke. But in all jokes, there is a grain of truth.

Great topic, not many books on audiobooks. Great book. If it were shorter, I would have given it four stars. Good read, it's given me a whole new perspective on audiobooks.

[Leo Saumure · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was interesting, but could have used some editing. For instance, the chapters on how the US and the UK approached audio books could have easily been merged into one section as both countries had very similar issues when it came to audio books.
All-in-all, I liked the book, but I felt it could shed some of its repetition.

[Erick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a hilarious irony in audiobook format. A narrator talking about audio narration and doing it in a dry and uninteresting way. You sure aren't selling it buddy. And well, I guess that was one of the choices you talked about in the book! But in my opinion, it sure as heck ain't the right one. Especially when the writing is rather dry, repetitive and often loses focus.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read the last two chapters, browsed the rest. Too much detail. Could have been a wonderful long piece in a magazine.

[Tina Panik · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dense. I tried two discs, and it didn't stick. This may be a better title to physically read than audio read, as the history of reading and the evolution of audiobooks is fascinating.

[Alexis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very dense and repetitive. To add insult, the narrator chosen is very dry and monotone.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, but slightly repetitive.

[Jenny Lacika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Packed with research but still a thoroughly enjoyable narrative.

[Evy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

This is a pretty heavy non-fiction book of the kind that (IRONICALLY) does not translate that well to the audio format.

It's the kind of non-fiction that one might just read one or two chapters out of as reference for a paper (doing that very thing is how I discovered the book). The chapters therefore reiterate a lot of the same things in different ways or different contexts. E.g., the chapter about the birth of talking books in America and the chapter about the birth of talking books in England would be really interesting on their own, but read back to back become extremely repetitive.

The chapters themselves are also written in a kind of straightforward academic structure that I find immensely helpful when doing research--an introduction that says what the author will say, a body that says what the author is saying along with dozens of examples, and a conclusion that says what the author said. When doing research, this is nice because you can read just the intro and conclusion, skim the middle, and come away with a very good idea of what the whole chapter says. Unfortunately, it's very hard to skim through audio, and so again, each individual chapter becomes quite repetitive.

The original book also has many footnotes that the audiobook leaves out entirely. Tackling footnotes actually comes up in the book near the end, as one of the biggest conundrums facing audiobooks, but at no point is there any self-aware reference to the fact that the very audiobook you're listening to has chosen to leave out its footnotes. Lost opportunity!

Anyway! I'm glad I read this, and I learned a lot, particularly about audiobooks as they relate to the rights of blind people and censorship, topics which this book focuses on a lot. I would recommend it to anyone with a strong interest in this topic, but not necessarily just a casual one. :)

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an audiobook fan, I listened to the audiobook of this… obviously. I wish I could give it a higher rating, but there were a few little problems. For a book with an entire chapter on the importance to having a good reader, it would’ve been nice if the producers of this book had followed that advice. The reader wasn’t terrible, but, in my opinion, he should have been better. Also, I think that they should’ve had just a single chapter on each subject without going over the same ground in the United States and the UK in different chapters. Very inefficient, that.

Still, I’ll give the author credit. It was, overall, a pretty decent history of the audiobook so far. As a lover of audiobooks, I felt this was essential to have and I still feel that way after listening to it.
Since I have listened to hundreds of books that I would never have had the opportunity to read if it wasn’t for audiobooks, I know it’s complete nonsense to suggest that it matters which openings in your skull the contents of a book use to reach your brain. Audiobooks of gotten me into nonfiction on a level I would never have reached when I used to devour books exclusively the old-fashioned way. So I guess, despite the books I’ve read (listened to), I won’t be getting my merit badges for culture and education from the hallowed halls of academia any time soon. Oh well.

As for the entire debate of the virtues of listening to as opposed to reading a book by the dictionary definition of the word “reading, ” I will now give this debate all further attention it deserves with the following words:

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book - an audiobook on the history of audiobooks. #Meta and obviously a nerdy nerd nerd book for nerds. I was extremely skeptical of audiobooks and am a recent and zealous convert. This taught me so much about them, from the earliest dreams of “talking books” with Edison’s invention of the phonograph to the rise of A.I. narration that is happening now and that I am not excited about. I was surprised to learn that audiobooks only became a societal priority in the years after World War I, when soldiers were coming back from combat blinded by mustard gas or mortars and sought comfort and some semblance of normalcy in the act of reading/listening to a book at night. I was fascinated by the audiobook as a means for independence in the blind community, and how divisions within that community delayed access for decades. I was not surprised that sighted politicians were trying to moralize by censoring books and selecting books to be recorded that they deemed fit for blind people, as if blind people didn’t want to read what everyone else wanted to read. (Some things never change.) I also learned that there were audiobook-only stores, and that we had (have? must investigate) the largest one in the world here in Scottsdale. Who knew? I think it would make a great history piece for the mag. Overall, this was like reading an interesting textbook. Nerdy nerds like me like that sometimes. Fave quote: “Audiobooks are for people who can’t read, and for people who can’t read enough.”

[Joleek · Rating 1 out of 5]

As an avid listener of audio books, I was really looking forward to this. But, what a disappointment. First of all, the book is written by a history professor and reads like a doctoral dissertation: dry and full of redundancies. Secondly, in a book that expounds on the history and variety of audio books this book is a missed opportunity. At least a dozen times this audiobook would have greatly benefited from sound clips (for example when describing beloved audio readers of the past or the preferred clipped style of books for the blind.). Lastly the reader of this book is one of the worst audiobook readers I have listened to. He sounds like a robot, even when he is reading descriptions of stilted audiobook readers or artificial simulations! he also made several glaring errors that were hard to overlook: “Charles Dickenson” instead of Dickens, “authorses” instead of “author’s”, etc. Since I listened to this book I am not certain if these errors were the author’s or the reader’s, but they were distracting to me. This material could have been fascinating, but the boring treatment of the text and the poor audio delivery made it very unenjoyable to me.

[Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhh I loved this book! I was a bit daunted by the big hardcover non-fiction, but it actually ended up being fascinating, and the writing was super accessible and fun (and funny) at times too! I loved the photographs which went alongside the text and I also really enjoyed the quotations from various people expressing like or dislike for certain aspects of audiobooks. As an avid listener to audiobooks, I found it super interesting to be so reflective on something I do a lot, although I will forever think of this book when I listen to my books! My only tiny issue was it could be a little repetitive at times, although maybe if I had taken longer to read it I wouldn't have noticed this as much. Overall, this was such a light and interesting book, and just generally a good time.

[Suzanne LaPierre · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough history of how audiobooks evolved from a tool for the blind to one of the most popular book formats, enjoyed by commuters, joggers, and anyone who feels the need to multi-task. I appreciate the last segment in the latest edition which covers the current controversy over AI narration replacing some human narration in current audiobooks. Interestingly, the author writes that many blind people prefer AI narration because the objectivity is similar to reading text, and also because people with blindness are more likely to be accustomed to text-to-speech robotic voices. Overall, this is a good reference book to round out the history of libraries, books, and publishing.

[Nancy Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's pretty meta to listen to an audiobook about the history of audiobooks. I learned a lot from this--the origins (even before the perfection of the mechanical recording of the human voice), the way audiobooks have evolved from "for the blind only" to a whole separate genre, etc. Unfortunately the author likes to start each chapter by telling you what he is going to tell you, and end each chapter by telling you what he just told you. Also, ironically, I did not think much of the narrator.