Book Audio

Audiobooks can do more than reproduce printed books. Whereas the book requires audiences to construct the narrative in their minds from a set of visual cues, the audiobook supplies a sonic dimension muted on the page. The use of sound is sometimes perceived as a shortcoming since it allegedly diminishes the imaginative labor of fiction. Yet focusing on deficits alone neglects those instances in which the addition of sound effects might be said to enhance the reading experience. This chapter examines recordings that take advantage of the audiobook’s affordances in order to go beyond simply replicating print. The “audio” in “audiobook” stands for more than just speech, after all. What happens when publishers experiment with sound in order to create “book audio” instead of audiobooks—that is, recordings whose soundtracks go beyond the verbal description of sounds by using actual sounds?