NOTES ON NARRATING: ADVICE FOR FUTURE AUDIOBOOK READERS

The process of recording an audiobook can be divided into two categories: Speaking and thinking. Plus research.

SPEAKING

1. Don't try to match the author's voice. Shy and pallid people write books that are funny and tough. Maybe they do so because they really aren't funny and tough in person. Match the voice of the character you find in the text. An author told me I'm not sure I sound like me. Probably true.

2. With fiction, you have to give the characters individual voices. Otherwise, just being practical, dialog gets confusing. I associate characters with people I know. As a character speaks, I keep a picture of my friend in my mind. My pal Janet who has an unusual voice,  has no idea how many appearances she's made. It is a big help if you are, like me, truly terrible at impersonations. 

Avoid stereotypes. Not all old people sound old. My father on his 90th birthday launched into his funny old guy impersonation. Yes, a 90-year-old man was playing a geezer and they sounded nothing alike. 

Some writers identify with a particular character. And sometimes they love more than one. It can get complicated when two characters in conflict speak with equal authority. Richard Russo writes separate characters who seem to be different sides of the same person. Cut one, the other bleeds. But that's something the very greatest writers do. It's their mission: They inhabit all their characters and make us see virtue in each one. Readers have to let each one speak.

THINKING

I had good teachers who taught us to respect the text as a unique thing, not as something typical of a genre or period or even of its own author. We were taught to go mano a mano with texts.

Figure out what the writer means to say. Know when the author is staying on message and when he or she is straying. Don't try to repair the text. Forgive the error and continue with conviction. 

Find what most interests an author. Or what they can't help but see. John Irving and Jack Vance are showmen, they're running circuses. Anne Tyler and Russo like figuring out how people deal with problems we meet in daily life: a loss, a disappointment, an accident, getting old. But what really interests a writer may be not people but words or scenery or ethical issues. Many readers don't like Updike's characters and the nasty things they do. But nobody denies that he is an amazing observer of small-town American life who writes like an angel.

RESEARCH

Foreign names and phrases: Go to the author or translator. Historians, though, often don't know how to speak a name, they've only had to spell it until you ask. For contemporary figures I go to NPR. (Which, by the way, covers conservative thinkers as well as they do liberals.) Check native speakers, local librarians. You may not find the ultimate authority. 

Once in Chinatown I asked the cashier for a correct pronunciation of some names. He called a waiter who in turn called a cook and they couldn't agree. (The three came from different part of Hong Kong.)  Persist. Another time I needed the pronunciation of a major English pacifist of a century ago. Charlotte Despard. Turns out there was a street named after her and a pub located on the street and a guy at the pub wrote back to say, yes indeed you do pronounce the final D.

It can be work. But you're getting paid to read great books before your friends see them. 

New Reviews for Global Tilt and Vampires in the Lemon Grove!

GLOBAL TILT -- Leading Your Business Through the Great Economic Power Shift

Ram Charan, Read by Arthur Morey 

"A leading business writer says that economic power is shifting away from traditional economic centers to fast-developing countries south of the 31st parallel--such as India, Brazil, and others that have energetic work forces and nimble corporate and public institutions. This creates mega-opportunities for leaders who can anticipate these changes and seize opportunities. Charan says that capitalizing on this tilt requires not just imagination but also a lot of courage--to decentralize decision making, respect unfamiliar cultures, and make painful human resource decisions. The "great thinker" tone in Arthur Morey's flawless performance is perfect for this visionary book. He sounds urbane, pedagogical, and thoughtful. It's clear he understands every concept and nuance in the text. Yet he holds his listeners securely and comfortably, without ever sounding pedantic."

-- T.W. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine APRIL 2013]

Earphones Award for:

Vampires in the Lemon Grove

Karen Russell, 

Read by Arthur Morey, Joy Osmanski, Kaleo Griffith, Mark Bramhall, Michael Bybee, Romy Rosemont, Robbie Daymond • Unabridged • FEBRUARY 2013

Random House Audio • Trade Ed.

Books on Tape • Library Ed.

"Eerie, arresting, chilling, inventive . . . all are apt descriptions of Karen Russell's collection of engaging short stories. Each of the eight macabre tales transports the listener into a realm of fantasy horror, communicated so subtly and with such prosaic pacing that when the shocking truths become apparent, the listener is already lulled into acceptance. Each performer conveys a warm precision and firm grasp of the author's dark vision. Russell's bold, imaginative creations include captive Japanese girls who transmute into human silkworms, aging vampires who revel in the delectable Italian lemons that slake their thirst for blood, and 11 horses who wake up to find they're reincarnated as past U.S. presidents. The adept full cast eases the listener into the magic of each starkly divergent landscape."

--A.W. Winner of AudioFileEarphones Award © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

The 2013 Audie Awards in New York City

Arthur Morey is Nominated for the 2013 Audie Awards in the History category for David Talbot's Season of the Witch!

Here is the review:


SEASON OF THE WITCH:
Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance In the City of Love
David Talbot, Brilliance Audio

"Be warned, this audio is very hard to turn off! Talbot tackles the over-the-top history of San Francisco with love and respect, but as he himself says, this is a bloody valentine. Arthur Morey infuses every juicy detail of murder, corruption, and disaster, along with the world's largest mass suicide, with an eager, almost breathless quality that keeps listeners on the edge of their seats. Yet he swings easily into the giddy lilt of glamour, wealth, and sexual abandon that came with the high times. He handles the down-in-the-depths era of homeless, drug-addicted vets and the killing scythe that was the AIDS epidemic with a quiet sensitivity that portrays the plight of the hopeless without ever losing respect for their humanity."

--D.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award

The Reluctant Spy

A few days ago the New York Times published a sympathetic article about The Reluctant Spy author John Kiriakou.

You can read the full article HERE.

Please enjoy the Audible.com review for my recording of the book below:

"Fans of Arthur Morey will not be disappointed as they listen to The Reluctant Spy. The autobiography is the story of John Kiriakou's tenure as both an analyst and covert operator at the nation’s spy shop.

Morey has much to draw from in The Reluctant Spy. Kiriakou writes of his Greek immigrant family and tells of an interest in the larger world that began when he was a boy. Morey leads listeners through the exploits of college student (and political junkie) Kiriakou as he tries to sneak his way into Capitol Hill functions to the author’s recruitment into the C.I.A., beginning not as a covert operator, but as an analyst of unstable countries and their suspect leaders. Through Morey we can imagine Kiriakou’s transition to a savvy operative whose fluency in Arabic and Greek make him highly sought after for duty in the Middle East and Pakistan.

Anxiety builds in Morey’s voice as Kiriakou identifies his targets and moves in for either the recruiting of informants or the capture of international terrorists. There is also unabashed anger to be heard as Kiriakou writes of essential evidence destroyed, mishandled, or — even worse — not investigated at all by the supposed partners of the C.I.A. in other government agencies.

You can also hear Kiriakou’s steely professionalism in Morey’s reading of the C.I.A. assignments, so painstakingly planned and meticulously executed. However, Morey also captures the anguish of a man caught between his job — so much of which he could not share with friends or family — and his increasingly problematic personal life. Fury even arises as Morey reads the author’s words describing how badly an acrimonious separation can destroy a father’s long-awaited visit with his children.

Listeners truly get a sense of the author’s expertise in his covert assignments, as well as his innate inability to suffer fools gladly. Several chapters of the book deal with Kiriakou’s take on torture (he’s not for it) and the C.I.A.’s bureaucratic ways. Morey perfects a sarcastic tone that allows you to grasp unequivocally the author’s exasperation with Standard Operating Procedures.

From feature film-like moments and bureaucratic tedium to the personal toll a life’s work takes on an individual, The Reluctant Spy is another exciting experience as the inner workings of a CIA professional’s career are brought to life by Arthur Morey. John Kiriakou is not afraid to share honestly his experiences, from the admirable to the not-so-much, providing a full palette for the talent of Morey." —Carole Chouinard

A Special Interview on Literate Housewife

Click HERE and scroll down to enjoy some of my thoughts and observations about the Holidays!

Review for My Latest Title by Alice Munro

DEAR LIFE: Stories

Alice Munro
Read by Kimberly Farr, Arthur Morey

"Alice Munro has written another extraordinary collection of short stories. Both Kimberly Farr and Arthur Morey lend intuitive pacing to their nuanced performances of these works. The listener becomes steeped in the meaning and beauty of Munro's stories by virtue of the performers' deliberate pacing. They give each one the focus that is essential for the concentrated prose of the short story genre. Further, they convey the sense of profundity that these stories evoke with eloquent and clear deliveries. Some of the stories take place in the author’s home territory of Canada during the period of her childhood. However, the collection's timeless and intimate subjects will resonate with anyone listening to these perilous journeys of life. A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2012]"

Pakistan

Last Sunday's NYT says the president figured out some months ago that we had to cut losses in Afghanistan; the real problem is Pakistan. Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani journalist--a brilliant man and writer who  knows the major players--has been writing for years about the corruption, the multiform politicking--  fights between special interests (army, political leaders), between religious factions, moneyed interests and personal. Pakistan on the Brink and Descent into Chaos make things seem as unhappy as they must be. I can't keep it in my head, who can? Nor can I even imagine where the fix is. The only comfort is that somebody like Rashid does know what's happening. The prospect of intelligence is comforting. I hope the president's people are reading / listening to him. 

Life Imitates Sci-Fi

Peter Diamandis was getting great reviews for  Abundance and then Space X, which he'd been working on, successfully launched the first private rocket for space exploration this week. This author believes that THINGS might get better. In the meantime, who argues with people who  get their private rocket ship off the ground? Another proof about imitation:One aim of private launches is to collect minerals from asteroids. That's what's happening in Earth Unaware, the novelization of Orson Scott Card's graphic novel, a prequil to the Ender series. A final example is Gregory Benford's Great Sky River and Tides of Light, (Gabrielle DeCuir and Stefan Rudnicki produced Benford and Card, they're wonderful.) In Benford's future world there are usb ports down our spines to hold the personalities of dearly beloved. He also has a way of transporting images from retina to retina. A video on Google goggles came out a month ago. It's all Benford.

Big Picture

Season of the Witch  & To End all Wars 

The more specific the story, the more the reader/listener can expand on it bringing his or her own wisdom and grief. Last year’s To End All Wars, (Adam Hochschield, Tantor) seemed narrowly focused on the English in WWI, but developed into an essay on the dreadful persistence of war, against all reason. David Talbot's, The Season of the Witch…, (Brilliance) on San Francisco from the late sixties to the middle eighties. An awful and wonderful epoch in one of the world’s truly beautiful cities. Beyond that, Talbot reminds us of the fragility of the American spirit, its many near-death experiences, its resuscitations, the questionable future. The words are about San Francisco but the music could be heard everywhere in America. Talbot understands that the 60s was not a fashion statement, but an attempt to revive patriotism in a country that had lost its memory. Both authors are serious historian/journalists, Hochschild was a founder of Mother Jones, Talbot founded and is editor-in-chief of Salon. 

Leaks

No news. John Kiriakou, author of The Reluctant Spy (Tantor) was charged with disclosing classified information to journalists two months ago. There's a good review of the audio on audible.com, and the PW description on amazon is accurate. More detailed piece in Mother Jones, Jan. 23. Kiriakou comes across in his book as the best kind of straight shooter, a true patriot who was upset by what he saw happening in the CIA. I'll try to post information on the linked Facebook page. 

Michelangelo

The Agony and the Ecstasy (Random H.) Is Irving Stone's satisfying novel,  full of Italian high-renaissance material—people, places, manners. It’s sanitized: Stone's problem was how to deal with Michelangelo's presumed homosexuality in mid 20thC. homophobic culture. The movie strays even further towards the silly. But it has virtues. The sets are beautiful—the designer John DeCuir recreated the Sistine Chapel as it really was—in bright colors. Charleton Heston’s performance is moving. Really. In the movie, the book, the real life, what comes through is the restless, unexamined energy of a great artist who can’t stop working, whether he’s handsome or homely, paid or not paid, gay or straight. 

Machines

Just before Christmas finished George Dyson’s Turing’s Cathedral, The Origins of the Digital Universe, Random House. About the creation of binary language—the origins of the computer and binary code. Interesting story lines—the influence of Hungarian theoretical mathematicians, fleeing Nazi Germany (several from Budapest Jewish upper-class families). The story of Alan Turing, a brilliant who helped break the code of the Nazi enigma machine. (After the war Turing was prosecuted for his homosexuality and committed suicide.) The Turing machine is a theoretical machine based on concepts (and mechanical plans) by the eighteenth-century German philosopher Gottfried Leibnitz But a description of what such a machine might look like (wheels and pinballs etc. etc.—in a story set in the Roman empire) turns up in the great story “The Oracle Engine” by M.T. Anderson, in Steampunk, an Anthology…. Brilliance.

Pinker

Stephen Pinker’s The Better Angels of our Nature, Brilliance (Check his website, stevenpinker.com. Or http://proxypantheon.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/interview-with-audiobook-reader-arthur-morey/).

Better Angels enthusiastically reviewed everywhere. Pinker’s message: humankind is less violent than ever. This is not conventional wisdom; it’s a hard sell. Pinker writes huge, overwhelming books. He works across disciplines—history, evolutionary biology, philosophy, sociology—so he persuades partly by weight of evidence. If you disagreed, where would you start?  

More Brains

Also recorded anniversary edition of Stephen J. Gould’s The Mismeasure of Man, Tantor. Pinker and Gould crossed paths and swords. Gould, who died too soon, was also a major public scientist. Gould goes after racial stereotyping here by looking at argument that people of color lack brainpower. He tells great stories. (Imagine using buckshot to fill up the skulls of artists and intellectuals to find out who had biggest brain. (Tipoff: Turgenev wins, Walt Whitman loses.) Gould shows the persistence of idiocy and thuggery. 

Collaboration

“Neuroplasticity” is discussed in two recent books, Jeffrey Schwartz’s The Mind and the Brain, Tantor and Richard J. Davidson’s The Emotional Life of your Brain. Brilliance. The two books come from different directions helping define the nature of thought, the ways of the brain. Both have Buddhist edge. Davidson's research is really impressive. Both had the same collaborator, Sharon Begley, a science writer/editor for the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek with a book of her own on neuroplasticity. Paul Zak's The Moral Molecule (Brilliance) is also connecting biochemistry with behavior.