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Jodene

reads, writes, speaks, listens & does lots of hand holding

the best description of me is in my words- please read the posts and there you will find me ...

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"Boys" and Books on Tape

On the three to four days per week when I take my kids to school (30 miles), go to work (46 miles), pick them up (46 miles) and go back home (30 miles), I’m in the car for 150 miles which is roughly 4 to 5 hours. With Los Angeles traffic… well, who knows how long that can take. Even on the days I work from another location near their school and daycare, we’re still typically in the car for a good two hours.

Last year I discovered books on tape at the local library. To assuage some of the guilt of not reading aloud to my child every night (tsk tsk!) I let the books on tape tell the stories. We listened to all the Ramona Quimby books, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Harry Potter (books two through six) and a slew of other titles I can’t recall. My three year old can tell stories like nobody’s business and it makes me look like a stellar parent. Win-win situation, I’d say.

This morning I was listening to an amazing short story by Rick Moody, entitled “Boys”. It is in Best American Short Stories (2001),edited by Barbara Kingsolver, as it deserves to be. Half way through the reading, done by the author, the sound quality suffered. This led to my suffering. Moody’s writing is absolutely riveting and listening to the story was far more dangerous than talking on the phone, eating while driving or reading a newspaper at 80 mph on the freeway. I was completely oblivious to the traffic around me. I started to panic. The sound decreased so I moved closer to the speaker in my door and turned up the volume knob. The sound returned to its normal volume, deafening me. I turned the knob down. Moody’s voice quieted and again I turned it up and leaned toward my door. His voice then boomed and had me swaying into the fast lane. This went on until the story was done. Up and down with the volume knob, leaning in and out of the door, swaying into the fast lane and on-coming traffic.

This morning I learned two important lessons. The first lesson was that it’s probably time to invest in a CD player. You thought I was casually throwing about the term “books on tape”. Oh, nooo! I actually have a tape player in my 1997 Camry. I’ve been reticent to put money into the car but it’s probably important for the safety of my passengers, me and anyone else sharing the road. These days, about half of the tapes I borrow have terrible sound quality or simply do not work at all. The second lesson I learned is that it’s best to turn off the tape player after hearing a short story as brilliant as “Boys”. There is no point in listening to another short story. I drove the next 30 minutes in silence- the respectful and appropriate thing to do. I’ve done the equivalent with books. After reading She Came to Stayby Simone de Beauvoir, I took a break from novels. A long break. What was the point of picking up another novel? I needed time to process and recognize that is how a novel is supposed to read.

Without sounding too much like a Public Service Announcement, I encourage you to get books on tape and make the most of your commute. AND, why should kids be the only ones read to?

To read “Boys”: http://shs.westport.k12.ct.us/chia/ContemporaryAmerican/stories/boys.pdf