That success would have come as no surprise to the audiobook’s pioneers, who had always imagined a future in which audiences would read books with their ears instead of their eyes. Fans have been predicting the audiobook’s ascendance ever since it became possible to record books. But when exactly was that? The audiobook’s origins can be traced back further than most people realize. Some historians credit Books on Tape, Recorded Books, and other mail-order libraries that arose in the 1970s to entertain commuters stuck in traffic. Others point toward the 1950s, when Caedmon Records released an album featuring the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas reading his beloved tale “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.” Still others link the audiobook’s origins to discs made by the Library of Congress in 1934 for people who were blind and partially sighted. But the audiobook’s origins predate the twentieth century. In fact, the audiobook turns out to be as old as sound-recording technology itself.
The predatory dimension of one person telling the story of another: Roth wrangled with the theme throughout his career. And until he died, in 2018, he spent a great deal of energy courting biographers, hoping that they would tell his story in a way that wouldn’t undermine his art or his legacy.
The powwow is a celebration of life and renewal so it’s fitting that Annalisa Berrios embraces the “fancy shawl” dance, also known as the butterfly dance because its movements re-create the moment the winged insect emerges from its cocoon.
Berrios, 33, recently felt like she, too, was emerging from a long hibernation.
Ultimately, there’s probably no reversing the capitalist drive. Part of the problem is that it’s not just about those who want to sell us pre-packaged, watered down ancient practices. We want to buy them. We want them made easy for us. If we could buy them in a pill and take them with our coffee, we would. I only hope that some people will decide to go a little further, to discover what’s beneath the shiny surface.
At a time when precious few women were allowed into senior ranks of foreign reporting, she was a trailblazer for a generation. I commend her book to the widest audience possible but particularly those setting out in journalism. Pick is testament to the necessity of having a broad intellectual hinterland and an open mind, the value of cultivating sources and finding things out. There is no better manifesto against the current clickbait culture and narcissistic social media obsession. This voice from before the age of Facebook and Twitter is profound and urgent.
My death thoughts travel on feathers,
gliding by so quickly that I must race