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Comic: How audiobooks enable the shared experience of listening to a good story

NPR | By Kate Wheeler
Published February 21, 2023 at 5:00 AM EST
Panel 1: Book tape decks are seen. For my brother and me, kids in the early 90's living in a household without television, books on tape were everything. Panel 2: Kid slimed on a 90's tv show. Without T.V. it often felt like we were missing out on something, and it wasn't just people getting slimed on tv. Panel 3: We both loved to read, but aside from our bedtime story, that was a solo affair.
Panel 4: Kate and her brother, Ben, at the library, looking at audiobooks. We didn't have the patience (or ability) to read aloud to one another for very long. That's where audiobooks came in. Ben: Ooh, this one! Panel 2: Kate and Ben on the floor, opening the tape deck and getting ready to listen. There's something about the shared experience of hearing a story. Kate: wha'd'you think happens?
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Panel 6: A hand punching the play button on the tape player. —having a narrative unfold before you, not knowing what's around the corner. SFX: TKKKK
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Panel 7: Kate and Ben looking at each other with anticipation. We would glance at each other, not daring to speak during a cliffhanger or pivotal moment. Panel 8: I don't remember all of the books we listened to on tape —Tape: Cassette One, Side A."— but i can easily call to mind our shared concentration on the voice that crackled through the small speaker.
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Panel 9: Kate and Ben lying next to each other, the tape player in between them on the carpet. I remember being together, ready for a story.
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Kate Wheeleris a cartoonist based in Rome, Italy. Her work has been published in The Washington Post, The Nib and The Seattle Weekly.

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Kate Wheeler