Lots of people were nervous about the Audio
Publisher Association’s plans to “streamline” this year’s Audie Award
ceremony. But everyone I’ve spoken with since awards night seems to agree
that this year turned out to be a big improvement over 2008.
Last year’s ceremony lasted well over four
hours, and nearly everyone found it to be a bit too much ("interminable" some would say). This year’s affair was much quicker, and at the end of the night, people were in great spirits. Everyone’s
hopes are high that 2010 will be even better.
Gathering as we did at the beautiful New
York Historical society, it was only fitting that award-winning narrator John Lee, should pay
tribute to libraries and librarians.
Accepting his Audie for “Best Male Solo
Narration” (for Blackstone Audio’s production of The Count of Monte Cristo) Lee fished in his wallet and then held
up his library card for all to see. He pointed
out that the audiobook industry owes much of its success to public libraries. Then he
spoke about how much he personally owes to his local library and called on everyone
to support their library.
John Lee's masterful narration of The Count of
Monte Cristo (all 47 unabridged hours of it!) is available on Playaway.
Here's the AudioFile magazine profile of John, including his full "audiography." Is it just me or does he resemble the fellow on the cover of the book?
In addition to The Count of Monte Cristo, Playaway currently has over two dozen other classic and contemporary titles narrated by John. Here's the complete list:
| Title |
Author |
Publisher |
| Absolution Gap |
Reynolds, Alastair |
Tantor Audio |
| Cochrane |
Cordingly, David |
Tantor Audio |
| Count of Monte Cristo, The |
Dumas, Alexandre |
Blackstone Audio |
| Dark Volume, The |
Dahlquist, Gordon |
Tantor Audio |
| Dracula |
Stoker, Bram |
Tantor Audio |
| Dreaming Void, The |
Hamilton, Peter F. |
Tantor Audio |
| Dust |
Grimes, Martha |
Penguin Audiobooks |
| Empires of the Sea |
Crowley, Roger |
Tantor Audio |
| Even |
Grant, Andrew |
Blackstone Audio |
| Far from the Madding Crowd |
Hardy, Thomas |
Tantor Audio |
| Glister, The |
Burnside, John |
Blackstone Audio |
| House of Suns |
Reynolds, Alastair |
Tantor Audio |
| Invisible Wall, The |
Bernstein, Harry |
Blackstone Audio |
| Judas Unchained |
Hamilton, Peter F. |
Tantor Audio |
| Old Wine Shades, The |
Grimes, Martha |
Penguin Audiobooks |
| Pandora's Star |
Hamilton, Peter F. |
Tantor Audio |
| Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, A |
Joyce, James |
Tantor Audio |
| Redemption Ark |
Reynolds, Alastair |
Tantor Audio |
| Revelation Space |
Reynolds, Alastair |
Tantor Audio |
| Robinson Crusoe |
Defoe, Daniel |
Blackstone Audio |
| Secret History of the World, The |
Booth, Mark |
Tantor Audio |
| Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong |
Bayard, Pierre |
Tantor Audio |
| Spartans, The |
Cartledge, Paul |
Blackstone Audio |
| Temporal Void, The |
Hamilton, Peter F. |
Tantor Audio |
| Thermopylae |
Cartledge, Paul |
Blackstone Audio |
| Three Musketeers, The |
Dumas, Alexandre |
Tantor Audio |
| Under the Volcano |
Lowry, Malcolm |
Blackstone Audio |
| White Fang and The Call of the Wild |
London, Jack |
Blackstone Audio |
| White Tiger, The |
Adiga, Aravind |
Tantor Audio |
| Worlds At War |
Pagden, Anthony |
Tantor Audio |