My near obsession for audio books evolved over the last few years. I think the three-year pandemic period may have spurred it. The habit started with random selections of my sister’s book club choices. Eventually, my library checkouts included at least one audio book. No matter that I have book shelves filled with reading material awaiting my attention. I’ve incorporated audio books into my daily chores of washing clothes or dishes, separating and folding laundry, and performing tasks that don’t require lots of mental energy. At times, I’ll listen while savoring a predawn breakfast. My disc player either straddles the laundry room double sink or sits in corner wedge of the kitchen pantry’s pullout ceramic counter.
More recently, I’ve favored audio books of nonfiction, specifically autobiographies. As a reader/listener there’s nothing better than hearing authors tell their own stories or having them read by exceptional talent. I’m inspired by their achievements, failures, high and low points–all the moments that pave life’s journey. It’s a visceral experience. Sometimes, I’m so riveted by what I’m hearing I’ve stood motionless and transfixed in my kitchen or laundry room absorbing every word being uttered. Wow! That’s usually what I’m feeling. Just, Wow!
In January of this year, I listened to LeBron written by Jeff Benedict and narrated by Chris Jackson. When I visit the library for an audiobook, I usually let my eyes wander through the selections. The LeBron audiobook kind of leaped out at me. And I thought, “Okay, I’ll give it a try” since I didn’t know his personal account other than being a sports superhero. But any story is really in the telling and the telling, in this instance, was exhaustive and masterfully executed. I learned more about LeBron James, and entered a world echoed in Shakespeare’s play As You Like It: “All the world’s a stage/ And all the men and women merely players.” In addition to being a fierce competitor, LeBron is a devoted family man who married his sweetheart from teen years. although she was younger and in a different high school. His mother, a single parent, is bar none, his biggest fan and vice versa. And the author interviewed over 200 individuals to craft the narrative. For me, LeBron, the book, is merely the starting gate for his entrepreneurial accomplishments. It’s almost like the story ends with “Just wait and see what I do next.”
In February, I listened to Spare by Prince Harry. Last year, when Spare hit the bookshelves and online purchases, my first reaction was “Spare? Spare me!” But he won me over with his candid talk, a solid voiceover, and a ghostwriter who mined the story and gave it a lyrical quality. He didn’t spare any details, either, in some specific confidences and uttered a few too many profanities (I’m thinking his personal contribution?). But I learned of his love of Africa and his extensive involvement in the war in Afghanistan. Whether royalty or not, his adventurous spirit and personal pain seeps through the telling.
There’s one other audio book that brought me to tears. Sally Field’s book In Pieces was kind of gut-wrenching because, as the narrator, she retells of her personal struggles, childhood memories, and retelling of sexual abuse by her stepfather. But that’s not what made me teary-eyed. The theme for In Pieces revolves around love for her mother and acceptance of all she endured. Her mother, in the final analysis, could have protected her from abuse. Yet, her mother was her idol, her weakness, and the love of her life. In Pieces carried a theme of forgiveness. And this is what I look for—a theme—from any story whether fiction or nonfiction. Although enjoyable, I didn’t divine a theme in the other memoirs. And it makes me wonder: Does an autobiography need an inherent theme if it’s a factual retelling of someone’s life? My first inclination is: Yes!! That’s what every story needs somewhere in the bridge that connects all these moments in a life.
So I leave writers considering penning a memoir with these questions. Do you have a theme? Does it carry through your story? What moments support your theme? And, finally, consider narrating your story’s audio version! It may mean the world to the listener!
Happy writing!