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April 6, 2001/Nisan 13, 5761, Vol. 53, No.27
Company carries out 'aural' Jewish tradition
LEISAH NAMM
Assistant Editor
With today's busy schedules, many people don't have time to curl up on the couch with a good book. Instead, they pop a tape into the car's cassette player before their morning commute or listen to literature while ironing.
Author Susan Dworkin and her literary family - husband Moshe was previously in publishing and son Ben in public relations - committed themselves to providing Jewish literature to the world of audiobooks in 1998, when they founded Jewish Contemporary Classics (JCC).
"We began to understand that unless we put these great books on audio, they might be forgotten and lost," Dworkin says. "To lose a great book in the Jewish world is a real calamity because the book carries our culture more than most."
Dworkin will speak about "Saving Jewish Literature: The New Oral Tradition" at an author luncheon sponsored by NA'AMAT, Rina Chapter, 12:30 p.m. Saturday, April 21, at Beef Eaters, 300 W. Camelback Road, Phoenix.
She describes JCC as the only publishing company "dedicated exclusively to putting onto audio recordings great Jewish books of the 20th and 21st century."
So far, the company, based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., has published eight of its own audiobooks and has added several from other publishers to its catalog.
When selecting a book to transform into an audiobook, "we choose the most famous and important books we can find that are not on audio -as far as their content and their significance in Jewish literary history," she says.
JCC views audiobooks as performance art and the narrator's voice is of "tremendous" importance, she says.
"We only hire people who know what they're doing," she adds. They hire actors or actresses to narrate the books - many speak Hebrew or Yiddish and they all "have tremendous sympathy for the characters of the author," she explains. Not only do the actors have to have wonderful voices, they have to be able to play all the characters.
For example, in "As a Driven Leaf," narrator George Guidall created voices for all of the members of the Sanhedrin, their wives, Romans, children and elderly people.
The length of recording an audiobook varies by the length of the book, Dworkin says. First an actor is cast. Then they record and the edit the tape - deleting swallowing noises or rustling of paper - and sometimes change the pacing.
Dworkin serves as managing director for JCC, and her responsibilities include choosing books, producing and directing for all initial production and working with casting, studio and other third parties.
Ninety percent of audiobook listeners listen more than five hours per week, according to Audio Publishers Association surveys; R.R. Bowker Inc. Forty-four percent listen in the car while 37 percent listen at home. Another 8 percent listen while exercising or jogging.
"The vast majority of people who buy audiobooks are people who simply love reading, are very interested in literature and don't have time to read all they would like to," Dworkin says.
She also notes that audiobooks are great for Bikur Cholim (visiting the sick) committees. Those in the hospital may not be able to read or want to watch television so listening to audiobooks on a headset is a great alternative, she explains.
Dworkin is the author of 15 books and six plays. Her most recent book is "The Nazi Officer's Wife" (Harperperennial Library, $14 paperback), a Holocaust memoir.
Her book "Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson and the Year that Changed our Lives," is available on audiobook.
Other titles include "The Assistant" by Bernard Malamud, "Betrothed" by S.Y. Agnon, "As a Driven Leaf" by Milton Steinberg, "Fanny Herself," by Edna Ferber, "Night" by Elie Wiesel and "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant.
Narrators include Bea Arthur, Hal Linden and Ron Rifkin.
For more titles, visit the Web site, www.jccaudiobooks.com.
Reservations for the luncheon must be received by April 18. Send to NA'AMAT USA, c/o Honey Yellin, 15835 N. Sixth Drive, Phoenix 85023-7431.
Proceeds from $25 donations will benefit needy children in Israel.
Audiobooks will be available for sale.
For information or menu selections, call Joanne, 623-872-2218 or Barb, 602-493-7287.
Details
What: NA'AMAT author luncheon
Who: Susan Dworkin, co-founder of Jewish Contemporary Classics
When: 12:30 p.m. Saturday, April 21
Where: Beef Eaters, 300 W. Camelback Road, Phoenix
Cost: $25 by April 18
Call: 623-872-2218 or 602-493-7287
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