“What station are you listening to?” the young woman was asked. She was riding a health club’s stationary bicycle.
“John Grisham,” she said. “It’s an audio John Grisham book.”
I hate the idea of audio books. Perhaps if one has been robbed of sight, they serve some purpose, but I find the whole notion a loathsome technological development.
But it’s increasingly popular, as confirmed by the results of a survey recently conducted by the Audio Book Club headquartered in Morristown, N.J.
Sales rose from $250 million in 1989 to $1.6 billion in 1996.
The five most “mesmerizing” male reader voices are those of Tom Cruise, Jeremy Irons, John Lithgow, Robin Williams and F. Murray Abraham.
The five most “mesmerizing” female reader voices are those of Julie Harris, Kate Burton, Whoopi Goldberg, Frances McDormand and Blair Brown.
The most common things people do while listening to audio books: driving, relaxing and exercising.
And finally, but hardly surprisingly, audio book listeners would rather hear a book read by a celebrity than by its author.
