The Untold Story of the Talking Book, Matthew Rubery
The Untold Story of the Talking Book, Matthew Rubery
List: $22.95 | Sale: $16.07
Club: $11.47

The Untold Story of the Talking Book

Author: Matthew Rubery

Narrator: Jim Denison

Unabridged: 11 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/14/2016

Synopsis

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.

About Matthew Rubery

Matthew Rubery’s work focuses on modern literature, media, and reading practices. Originally from Texas, he joined Queen Mary, University of London in 2010 after teaching in Leeds and Philadelphia for a number of years and completing his doctorate at Harvard. His first book, The Novelty of Newspapers, was awarded the European Society for the Study of English Book Award for Junior Scholars.

About Jim Denison

Jim Denison is an Earphones Award winner and a SOVAS Voice Arts Award nominee. He has experience as an actor on a variety of television shows and movies and in regional and national television and radio ads. He holds graduate and post-graduate degrees in Christian studies and spent forty years working full-time in Christian ministry. He is the voice for the popular YouTube channel Top10Archive. A Florida native, he and his wife currently reside in southern Indiana.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jean on July 20, 2017

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 w......more

Goodreads review by Melinda on March 05, 2017

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 t......more

Goodreads review by Biblio on November 07, 2016

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 use......more

Goodreads review by Brenna on May 14, 2017

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... t......more

Goodreads review by Verónica on March 25, 2019

En breve la reseña en mi blog.......more

Quotes

“As this entertaining exploration shows, the story of audiobooks is as full of surprising and serendipitous turns as any engrossing work of fiction―whether read on the page or heard through headphones.”

Financial Times (London)

“The Untold Story of the Talking Book is lucidly researched and written.”

Spectator (London)

Financial Times (London)

“The Untold Story of the Talking Book is lucidly researched and written.”

Spectator (London)

“A detailed, lively, and well-peopled history of the technologies, economies, and organizations that have driven the recording of novels over the last 150 years…[with] some of the debates that surface in the archives Rubery has so elegantly plumbed.”

Los Angeles Review of Books

“The concept of a ‘talking book’ goes all the way back to Thomas Edison, whose very first recording was ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb.’ There’s a lot of history between that first, lost recording and my latest Audible download. Happily, this history has been researched and compiled in an excellent new book from Harvard University Press, The Untold Story of the Talking Book, by Matthew Rubery.

AccessWorld magazine

“Rubery provides the fascinating and rarely told history of the audiobook industry…Actor Denison narrates with the right amount of emphasis and speed. He knows how to distill the meaning of Rubery’s prose and tease out nuance.”

Publishers Weekly (starred review, audio review)

“Explores 150 years of the audio format with an imminently accessible style, touching upon a wide range of interconnected topics…[and] shines a light on overlooked pioneers of audio.”

Booklist (starred review)

“Rubery…raises fascinating questions about the experience of reading versus listening and whether converting a book to an audio format diminishes or enhances its effect.”

Library Journal

“Throughout its 150-year history, recorded books have generated heated debate…A well-informed…history.”

Kirkus Reviews

“Denison delivers the discussion in a straightforward and clear voice that has strong projection and good cadence. He’s easy to listen to…Overall, he enhances this production, so essential for audiophiles.”

AudioFile

Awards

  • Library Journal Editor’s Pick
  • Publishers Weekly Best Book
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