>>(Question for the purists: is the audiobook more "valid" if it's read by the author?)
Mark Nevins>>
I hate to generalize but....authors are people who can write. The best audio books are read by professional readers/actors, and in my experience, they do a much better job. The few I've listened to that authors have read have just about turned me off to audiobooks altogether, and I'm not much of a fan to begin with. So now I just avoid authors reading, and stick with good readers who know how to do it right.
There really is an art to reading a whole book and keeping the listener's attention. The first few books of the children's "noir" Series of Unfortunate Events, for example, were read by Tim Curry and he was fabulous. Then the author decided to read himself, and did the next 2 books, I believe. They were awful, and the publisher got Curry back to read the rest. And Jim Dale is brilliant reading the Harry Potter books. As talented as Rowling may be, she knew better than to attempt that herself.
As long as the book is unabridged, it is valid, IMHO. Someone recommended short stories, which I agree are wonderful, and I also like nonfiction books of essays, especially humor writing, which are usually unabridged and easy to start and stop as needed.
Cheers,
Stacy
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