9.16.2004
Moore's passage itself did not shake me to the bone. But the dramatic reading of it by the narrator of an audiobook, a.k.a. book-on-tape, did. You see, while I was at work listening to my cow-orkers shared iTunes music selections, I stumbled upon this recording, and, in effect, "read" over half the book. Hey, I thought, what a great way to get some reading done. So last night, off I went to the local library to find some books on CD. Yes, I assumed there are books on CD. "Books on Tape" is just a term handed down from the days when cassettes roamed the Earth like Ptyranydons... so I thought.
My assumption explains why the librarian seemed baffled by my request. Why would anyone under forty still have a cassette player? This is the conversation that transpired:
Me: Hi, where are you audiobooks?
Librarian: They're right over there... you mean books on tape?
Me: Yup.
Librarian: Books on tape?
Me: Yup.
Librarian: I'll show you... [leads me to section clearly marked "Audiobooks"] You mean these?
Me: Yup.
Librarian: Books on tape?
Me: Yes, thanks.
Librarian: Okay...
Of course, I don't have a tape deck. Not one currently connected to my stereo, anyway. So, I borrowed some books that are actually compatible with my bio-technology: paper books that I can read with my eyeballs. Hooray for libraries!
