authors reading their own books

there is no reason to believe that authors should be great readers but it is still amusing to hear them read their own work. i suppose it gives you a sense of how they hear their words in their head. i suppose it also gives you a sense of the author's physical presence.

a pleasurable listening experience in audiobook form? well i haven't found an author i like reading his own work... yet.

three recent experiences:

toni morrison reading beloved was very confusing because she didn't distinguish one voice from the other. maybe that was the nature of the book itself. still it didn't quite make a pleasurable listening experience.

mark doty reading dog years. well i think the book itself wasn't my cup of tea. as long as the anecdotes are left to speak for themselves its fine, but its full of grandiose statements and anaylisis that are somewhat overdone. the things that made the text annoying were made more annoying by his reading of it. his voice is very nasal and some of his reading is too dramatic. like he is forcing you to believe him.

gore vidal reading point to point navigation. this is the one i'm listening to these days. i wonder how i would react to this text in the printed form. but his reading of it sounds so depressed and bitter. not sure if its the text or his reading, or both. i do have to say that he makes amazing impersonations. his truman capote is hysterical.

what has been your experience?

Most of the audiobooks I've listened to where the author is the narrator, I've enjoyed.

Barbara Kingsolver reading Prodigal Summer, and Ray Bradbury reading The Martian Chronicles are two of my favorites.

Neil Gaiman is also always reliable - he did a great job with Stardust and Coraline, and pretty good with Fragile Things.

Augusten Burroughs reading Running with Scissors was unremarkable but fine. Lemony Snicket was fine on the few books of A Series of Unfortunate Events, but he can't stack up to Tim Curry, who read the rest. Sarah Vowell reading her own work (like Partly Cloudy Patriot is fun, if you don't mind her voice - I don't, but I know some people do.

I liked Gregory Maguire reading Leaping Beauty, but not so much reading Son of a Witch.

Frank McCourt reading Angela's Ashes was nice, since you got to hear the proper accents, and he sung the singing bits.

mejix, I listened to the Toni Morrison audiobook of Beloved as well. She committed the other cardinal sin of audiobook reading and mumbled her way through it as well. I listen mainly in the car, and for most of the time I could hardly hear her!

Stephen King has a slightly whiny voice, but stylistically he is a good reader of his own work.

firefly, thanks for the recomendations. i've been curious about angela's ashes and running with scissors for a while. hope to check them out soon.

grammath, you are right about the mumbling. i forgot about that. couldn't finish the audiobook myself. i do want to give the book a shot, specially since it was voted best novel of the last 25 years at that famous nytimes poll. maybe in print.

I second Neil Gaiman, I think he did a wonderful job with Coraline and I've just heard a preview of Neverwhere, but that sounds pretty good too.

I really enjoy listening to Ray Bradbury read The Martian Chronicles, but that could be as much for nostalgia as for artistic merit.

Right now I'm listening to Alice Sebold read The Lovely Bones and she's doing a great job.

One author I really dislike listening to is Harlan Ellison, his readings are always way over the top, I enjoy his writing, but I don't think he should record anything.

katy - I'm in total agreement; Harlan Ellison's reading is the main reason I disliked A Wizard of Earthsea. Stop yelling into the mike! We get it!

My mileage varies, Harlan Ellison is one of the best readers, particularly Jeffty is Five.

Alan Ginsburg is great.

Ted Hughes is very good.

Dylan Thomas was John Ciardi good.

firefly, barbara kingsolver also read animal, vegetable, miracle, and I enjoyed both her reading and what she had to say. i liked her southern twang. i think i've commented on this before somewhere else, but her husband and daughter read the sections they contributed as well, and there were transition sounds, e.g. the animals they were talking about in the next section or whatever. overall the effect was good, and i felt like i was listening to and extended NPR piece (a positive, in my book).

the other example i recently listened to was the kite runner which was a good story, well written (though a bit overdone on the parallellisms). it was also good to have someone familiar with pronounciation of the foreign words or terms of endearment in there as well. i can only imagine how I (in my head) or a reader unfamiliar with the language would ruin the flow of the language.

#6 fyrefly, exactly!

>7 DromJohn:

dromjohn, my experience with poets has been better too. although i haven't heard any on audio book format, there are many that i've enjoyed. my all time favorite has to be the philip glass/allen ginsburg project "hydrogen jukebox", which includes an amazing performance of "wichita vortex sutra." highly recommended.

>10 mejix:

I concur. But then I'm both a Glass and a Ginsburg fan.

I've only listened to a total of 12 books ever (listening to the 13th right now).

David McCullough reading 1776 was wonderful.

The only other book I've listened to by the author is Beowulf read by Seamus Heaney. I'm listening to it right now. His voice is perfect for it - I'm just not sure I like his translation. I will be reading the Harvard Classics translation by Francis Grummere next to compare.

Loved The Yiddish Policemen's Union read by Peter Reigert, loved all the Harry Potters read by Jim Dale.

Gave up on a reading of Pride and Prejudice - a woman reader and I didn't like the way she did the men.

Interesting topic, since I'm listening to my first book read by its author: The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank. It makes me feel like I'm reading a roman a clef.

Simon Winchester does a fine job of reading his own books. I've liked all of the ones I've heard him do so far.

augusten burroughs and dave sedaris are by far my favorite authors as readers. with augusten, he just has such a UNIQUE set of experiences, and way of talking, that i cant imagine anyone else even possibly guessing at what to do with his text. he has different voices and accents for his characters, and his work being biographical, i really feel like i KNOW him personally at the end of a book. possible side effects was hilarious to listen to in particular.

sedaris also has great voices and accents, and his work being funny, he does a great job of comedic timing. live at carnegie hall, particularly six to eight black men, had me ROLLING on the floor.

i agree with previous poster about kite runner -- it was important to hear words pronounced in the native way. i didnt think the author was that great a reader, but the accent and pronunciation made such a difference to the book overall.

Some off the top of my head where the author does a good job:

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - esp her Richard-from-Texas voice!

Bee Season by Myla Goldberg

The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

#16 I will second you on Elizabeth Gilbert reading Eat Pray Love...also liked Anderson Cooper reading Dispatches from the Edge.

Barack Obama won an Grammy for The Audacity of Hope. The funny thing, he was "competing" against Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter for the Grammy.

I adore Bill Bryson's reading. In fact, as much as I love his books, when they are read by others, I just don't enjoy them as much.

when in the intro to the disappointment artist they said that the book was going to be read by the author, i expected the voice of the reader to change. it didn't. that is him. lethem actually is a pretty good reader.

the essays? they are alright. some are better than others.

Hi everyone! New LibraryThing member here, and audiobook addict -- I'll just jump right in!

I really enjoyed the author reading The Kite Runner -- the accurate pronunciations really completed the story for me. I also LOVED the first minute or so of this book (the part about "I've been looking down that alley for the past twenty-six years"). What an amazing opening!

I wanted to listen to Harlan Coben's Promise Me, but couldn't get through more than an hour of it. He is definitely an author who should NOT try to do his own narration!

#21 - I was reading through this whole thread thinking I had to post about the Harlan Coben when I got to the end, but you beat me too it. I suffered through the whole thing but it was awful.

I thought John J. Nance did a great job with Saving Cascadia. He even did a great job with one of the characters Australian accent.

April Smith, reading her own book Judas Horse totally ruined the book. I can't believe the publisher actually allowed it to be released.

Although, I haven't experienced much of this, I think William Shatner, is brilliant reader of his owner material. I especially like his readings of Star Trek Memories and Star Trek Movie Memories.

I've liked all of the books Bill Bryson has read himself. He's got good pacing and a wry tone in appropriate places.

I want to second all the appreciation of authors — I think Khaled Hosseini was the one cited, though I didn't hear him read The Kite Runner — who give you vital pronunciations of their non-English settings, and especially the late Frank McCourt, who, though it's all English, certainly enriched my enjoyment of Angela's Ashes. (I'll never forget my anticipation, followed by total crack-up, when I had reluctantly turned off the car deck at "Chapter 19" to run inside, then the next day excitedly hit "play" again {spoiler alert}, to hear the lovely, friendly voice say only "Tis.") More recently I appreciated hearing Ayaan Hirsi Ali read Infidel, although I also wanted to see some of those names in print.

More recently, however, I've had two very bad experiences, with Madeleine Albright reading her 2006/7 The Mighty and the Almighty like she was instructing us from the phone book (modulating her voice, but not in the service of meaning or passion), and Jeannette Walls on Half Broke Horses. The latter was especially annoying (though I was listening because the writing made me not want to hold the book in my hands) because it was written in Walls's grandmother's POV, and her grandmother was quite a character. Walls went too far in cutesy-ing the presentation, and I thought betrayed the narrative voice. But then I have other problems with her "true life novel."

I'm reading an author-read book at present, which on balance I think works well, although he takes some getting used to: Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible by David Plotz.

Heh, I was chuckling (in sympathy, I assure you) as I read through some of the posts that described the horror of some of the author's reading their own books. I usually try to avoid listening to audiobooks when the reader is the author. In my experience, it's usually a recipe for self-torture.

However, Neil Gaiman is a different story, at least so far as his reading of The Graveyard Book is concerned. It was an extraordinary performance, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

Another time I went ahead and listened to an author reading his own work was both a torment and a delight, at one and the same time. It was Stephen King reading On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft. If it had been one of his novels, I am sure I would not have been able to stand it, but somehow his nasally squeaky gravelly oddly accented voice worked with the memoir, at least after I got used to it about a half a CD in.

I listened to Cold Mountain being read by author Charles Frazier. This book is set in South Carolina during the civil war. His voice is so flat, no emotion, but it really allowed the words to stand on their own. Every once in a while, a hint of a southern accent would sneak in and caused the narrative to just sparkle - far more than a more dramatic reading would have done.

Still Alice was read by the author Lisa Genova she did a really good job,in fact It wasn't till I was done that I noticed it was read by the author and I was impressed.

I'd never had an experience with author-read audio books until 2 days ago.

I started listening to Pawley's Island by Dorthea Benton Frank, but had to stop it in the third chapter because the book jumps from one person's POV to another's with very little warning to the listener and her voice stays the exact same through all characters. Probably much easier to read.

When I took that out of the cd player, I put in Marley & Me. John Grogan's voice and accent are more than a little annoying, but I think I'm going to survive it.

Sorry for no touchstones. They seem to make my phone mad.

Good morning! I just found youse guys. *elbow, elbow*

Tom Bodett reading Norman Tuttle on the Last Frontier.

He has read many of his other books, but they are usually only available on tape. He says they'll be re-released soon in digital form, but not CD. :( for me. I'll need to invest in the newer technology.

Laugh out loud funny and so endearing.

#29: Neil Gaiman managed to pull off something with "The Graveyard Book" that no one ever has: he's won the Newbery Medal for best children's book and the Audi Award for best audio book. CBS Sunday did a profile on him a few weeks back and while they mentioned the Newbery, neither the interviewer or Gaiman mentioned the Audi. I think it's quite an achievement and it's a shame it wasn't cited.

john le carre reading the constant gardener is actually pretty good. he has a very good voice and reads very well.

Don't know how I missed adding this one: The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search of the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner - not only did I like it, but an acquaintance who'd given up on the print book tried again on audio and said it was better that way. I'd say his self-deprecating sense of humor comes through in his voice, but is lost in print.

On the other hand, that same person loves Bill Bryson reading his own stuff, and I ... don't!

#34 AnneH ~ I recently listened to Gaiman reading his Neverwhere and OMG it was amazing! I've got Fragile Things, also read by him, on hold at the library. Those two plus The Graveyard Book are all I could find in the entire system read by him. If I find any others of his on audio read by him, I will have to break down and purchase them, he's that good as a reader. :)

And yes, I agree, winning both the Newbery and the Audi for the same book is quite an achievement!

ETA And well-deserved!

#37 & 38 -I love listening to Neil Gaiman I could listen to him read the phone book!

>37 Storeetllr: I really liked Gaiman reading Stardust, although I didn't like Fragile Things so much - too many of the stories are told from the first-person, and with one person reading them, it felt like they were all happening to the same person. Also, the notes about the stories were all given in a lump at the start of the book, which was sort of a pain, since by the time I actually got around to listening to the story, I couldn't remember what the intro for that story had been, and I couldn't flip back and forth like in a paper book.

I recently listened to Kitchen Confidential read by Anthony Bourdain, who did a brilliant job with the narration, since he very much writes like he talks.

I'm just over halfway through How Did You Get This Number (no, there is no question mark in the title) by Sloane Crosley,
who writes better than she reads.

Donna Tartt did a wonderful job with her The Secret History, I wouldn't wish to hear anyone else read it. (I don't know if she read The Little Friend.)

I find that I'm breaking the lines in Mark Doty's poetry differently than he does, and I like my version better. Odd: I really like his poems.

SPOKEN FROM THE HEART by LAURA BUSH. Read by Laura Bush.

I bailed on When You Lie About Your Age, the Terrorists Win by Carol Leifer after one hour (of four) - might've been tolerable in print (as a memoir), but her "comic" delivery grated on me.

Shermnn Alexi does a great job reading his wonderful True Diary of a Part time Indian

There are a surprising number that I've listened to recently.

A couple of autobiographies -

Sean Astin's There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale was well done. He is not afraid to be honest.
Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist by Michael J. Fox was pretty good. He is such a good guy, and his honesty was also refreshing, but he goes into more detail on some matters that I would have skimmed in a hard copy.

Life Without Limits, by Nick Vujicic was largely autobiographic, but is meant as an motivational/inspirational book, reflecting his presentations to groups around the world. His story is very inspiring, but the speeching got a little old.

I'm presently listening to The Survivors Club: the Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life, written and read by Ben Sherwood. He's been a broadcast journalist, which is where he got his foundational material and his excellent presentation of it.

I liked Vujicic's story overall, though he included some material that meant a lot to him, that I ended up fast-forwarding through (ministering to Bombay prostitutes, etc.).

I'm in the middle of Atlantic by Simon Winchester and he is doing a fabulous job narrating. If his books weren't so good I'd suggest that he do this professionally.

Unless an author has a fabulous audio voice, I don't know why they choose to read from their own work. Are they too cheap to hire a good reader or too egotistical to think anyone else could read their precious words.

Except for Bill Bryson, I can't think of another author/reader who I've ever enjoyed or even managed to listen to very long. Case in point: I love Robert Crais. But he chose to read The First Rule, and I could not get past the first chapter.

I cannot stand Bryson's voice - everyone else seems to think he's The Orator of the Century, but he's far too whiny for me.

Three books where the author does a good job: The Geography of Bliss, Bee Season and Eat, Pray, Love.

As for why? My gut feeling is that there's a feeling a self-narrated audio would "sell" better, buyers would see it as more "authentic"?

I always start listening to an author-read book with trepidation since most I've listened to are very bad. Frances Mayes is one of the worst in my opinion. I tried but can't get very far before giving up. I have just found a year in the world unabridged in my library which is read by Cassandra Campbell. I have put a hold on it with high hopes, if you're interested be sure to get the unabridged version since the abridged book is listed with the dread words "read by the author."

I think fannie flagg reading I still dream about you is very good. Of course, she has acting experience and I've noticed that those authors with acting or tv/radio experience usually do well in the narrating department.

Good Dog. Stay, although just one disk of 45 minutes, was too much of Anna Quindlen's voice for me. She is a print journalist, and her voice is too flat for enjoyment.
On the other hand, I seem to be listening to lots of good autobiographic books by actors. I'm listening to Patrick Swazye's Time of My Life, and enjoying his voice to no end. It makes me want to order all his movies to watch.

The few comedians I have listened to reading their own books seem to do a good job. In most cases it just like having them do a private show for you. In particular Lewis Black (I have done several of his). Bob Newhart is also good. I've only done one of Ellen DeGeneres but she was decent as well.

>51 Seajack:
Seajack, I'm with you with regards to Bill Bryson. I haven't even managed to get through the first disc of At Home : a Short History of Private Life; his voice and pacing are driving me bonkers. It's going back to the library and I'm going to get the hard copy book, as the actual content sounds interesting so far - I just can't get past the narration.

Lawrence Block has read some of his own. He shouldn't, but he has.

#55 I was really surprised when I first heard Bill Bryson talking on the radio, he is a perfect example of a voice that does not match the face!
I have to recomend to people listening to anything by Alan Bennett read by himself, his voice is so lovely and comforting and it never sounds right to hear anyone else reading his work.

Nearly all the Bill Bryson I have listened to are read by William Roberts. I have come to think of his voice as Bill Bryson's

I've read several memorable ones, but the ones that immediately come to mind are Joshilyn Jackson (she's read at least 2 of her own) and The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty.

I just finished Lisa Genova's Still Alice and while the book was pretty good, I have to disagree with a reviewer up above. I thought her voice was very monotone & think I would've appreciated the book much more had it been read by someone else.

The Memory of Running doesn't really count as McLarty was a professional narrator long before he wrote the book!

#60 - Sure it counts! :')

I'm a listening reader living in England, and among English authors reading their own work my favourites are both in the mystery field: Simon Brett, a prolific writer who has been reading his own work for over 20 years, and Veronica Stallwood, who narrates several of her Kate Ivory books. In both cases their voices are so exactly at ease with the rhythm of their written words that it's almost like hearing someone telling you a story they're making up as they go along. Perfection!
Has anyone yet heard Rob Lowe reading Stories I Only Tell My Friends? I've read it and thought it terrific - if he reads as well as he writes I'll want to add the audio version to my collection.
Last thought: the writer I'd really liked to have heard narrating her own work is Jane Austen. Her lucky family would first experience each new novel as a work-in-progress read aloud - and could chip in with their own ideas. You can't do that with an mp3 player (though I do shout at mine when it does that sudden dreaded leap back to "Audible presents.." just as you're within ten minutes of the end of the book!)

I don't think I've ever had a bad experience with author-read books when they're memoirs or poetry (most poetry is really meant to be listened to anyway but Allen Ginsberg should always be listened to, especially when it's him doing the reading).

For children's books Daniel Pinkwater is AMAZING. I grew up with his books and still read all his new ones (they are always funny) and I don't think anyone else could do them justice. You can download podcasts of him reading some of his books for free from http://www.pinkwater.com

Have to second (or third or fourth) on Barbara Kingsolver.

Douglas Adams reading all of his books. Incredible.

I'm new here, but I wanted to say I loved Neil Gaiman's reading of Neverwhere.

That's a coincidence, I am reading Neverwhere at the moment, I didn't know that he read the audiobook himself, hmmm... I will have to look it up. Thanks Robreads.

Catherynne M. Valente reads her own book, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in A Ship of Her own Making. It's very well done.

Oh, and About Alice by Calvin Trillin! Excellent.

I'm listening to Stephen King read his novel Bag of Bones. He's not the world's most effective reader, especially as far as different character voices, but there's something special about having Stephen King read a spooky story to me . . . ;)

I just finished A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by, Joshilyn Jackson she did a fantastic job at the narration and I will definitely be listening to more from this author/narrator!

I tried Lunatics, written and read by Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel, but found it coarse and un-interesting. Too bad, I do like a lot of Dave Barry's stuff.

Another vote for Neil Gaiman reading anything, but especially Neverwhere!

I haven't had the opportunity to listen to a lot of books, but I do enjoy them. I just finished listening to A Wrinkle in Time read by the author and it took a the first one or two chapters to get use to the way that she talked but it wasn't a bad experience either.

I'm listening to The Other Wes Moore, written and read by Wes Moore. He has a pleasant cultured voice.

I'm listening to Dune read by Simon Vance. He has a classical British voice that I always enjoy. I'm also listening to The Final Solution read by Michael Yorke. He is another favorite narrator. I've listened to him read Alice In Wonderland and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with my daughter. I also like anything read by Jim Dale. He reads all the Harry Potter series as well as the Peter Pan books written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.

I will definitely try Neil Gaiman's reading.

Lately I've been listening to a fair few memoirs read by showbiz types, and the best author/reader I've found in any genre is one of these:Guts by Kristen Johnston.

She's probably better known, I found out from the book, as Sally in the TV show "Third Rock from the Sun". Her story centres around an excruciating medical emergency but she tells it with such warmth and humour that you cannot stop listening. It's like being in the audience of a one-woman show performed by a particularly great actress.

I also agree with Eyreaffair (back at message #15) that Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris are standout readers. Their books are also based on their lives.

I listened to A Girl Named Zippy a while back, read by the author, Haven Kimmel. It's a really excellent memoir of a short period of her childhood and I can't imagine just reading it in print, because her narration adds such a lot. Highly recommended.

Elizabeth Gilbert does an excellent job reading Eat Pray Love, as Seajack mentioned above. I'm smiling through most of it.

Love Bill Bryson reading! Fabulous!

Neil Gaiman and David Sedaris are also superb readers of their own work. I cannot recommend them enough.

Simon Callow's reading his own Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World is terrific! His enthusiasm for the subject carries the book.

I was just asking about this in another group and was directed here. I'm new to the idea of audiobooks but I think I like the idea of the author giving their own inflection, as long as they are a decent reader and the sound editing is good.

I find authors reading their own work to be a mixed bag. I would listen to Neil Gaimen read a grocery list. But Robert Frost attempting his own poetry makes me nuts.

Neither Neil Gaiman, David Sedaris nor Bill Bryson have golden voices, but their readings of their works are excellent.

'Same for Simon Winchester.

Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors anyway so I'll definitely try one of his!

I just listened to Maeve Binchy reading a short story she wrote for a university lecture. "A Week in Summer." The Audible version was less than $3. I really enjoyed it. It made me laugh out loud.

I think the best thing about authors reading their own works are the language and voice inflections are like they are supposed to be.

Just picked up Sunset Park by Paul Auster, read by the author. Will report back on how he does.

Bill Bryson absolutely. Short History of Nearly Everything is always on my iPod. It's like a bible of endless fascinating information that he makes easy to understand while heavenly to listen to.

Bill Bryson is wonderful.

So is Lewis Black. But as for Lew, I wouldn't even consider reading any of his books. You have to listen to his audios. I swear, when I listen, I can SEE him twitching and sputtering!

#72 I recently listened to Madeline L'Engle reading her Wrinkle in Time and thought it was wonderful.

I know lots of folks love Bryson's narration, but I can't stand it (along with David Sedaris, too).

Damn, sorry, wrong thread!

>36 Seajack: I'd say that Weiner wrote The Geography of Bliss in the same 'format' as he does any of his radio broadcasts. I've got a copy of the book with me while I listen, and it makes a much better radio show than book. The material is strictly entertainment; there isn't much of substance, and some that is offensive. I just got past his "Museum of Lisa" riff from Qatar.

>1 mejix: and >3 Grammath:

Toni Morrisson's narration of her colonial slavery novel, Mercy, was superb. I'd rec anyone listen to this book rather than physically read it to themselves.

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion narrated by Fannie Flagg was a delight.

Waxing On is just an okay memoir. But Macchio’s voice engendered that “feel good” sensation that I recall from the film.