Member-only story
Ode to Audio
Audiobooks helped me read big books, and more of them.
ODDITY
A middle-aged man slouches at food court table, open book in hand, headphones perched on his head.
“Look,” I say. “He’s doing that thing I do.”
“Reading?” says K, my wife.
“But, like, also listening to the book,” I said. “At the same time.”
“Okay,” says K, still somehow not catching my enthusiasm.
Before this uncanny encounter, I had suspected there must be others who, like me, have taken to reading in this way: listening to books while simultaneously reading the text. Food court guy confirmed this theory. (Is this how astrophysicists felt photographing a black hole?)
Of course, fans of audiobooks are not as rare as a pic of a dead star. A number of friends and colleagues — those with long commutes, for instance — listen to books.
But people who listen and read simultaneously?
“Not unusual,” says K.
Except, isn’t it? I maintain that this method of reading (what to call it? ‘audio-reading?’ ‘read-listening?’) is something of a secret, that food court guy and I are an uncommon breed. We may not be, after all, as my wife and a handful of ‘life hack’ articles can confirm.
