Salon.com > The Devil in Silver http://www.salon.com Sun, 19 May 2013 01:00:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 “The Devil in Silver”: The haunted madhouse http://www.salon.com/2012/11/15/the_devil_in_silver_the_haunted_madhouse/ http://www.salon.com/2012/11/15/the_devil_in_silver_the_haunted_madhouse/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13099639 Most novelists shouldn't narrate the audio versions of their work. A professional actor can almost always do a better job, especially when the novel features a lot of dialogue and a variety of characters of different ages and genders. There are exceptions, of course — novelists renowned for their dramatic talents — but not many. With nonfiction, it's another matter; the best works are already written in an artful approximation of the author's own voice. Whether it's Tom Bissell reading his thoughtful ruminations on the art of video games in "Extra Lives," or Mitchell Zuckoff relating the true story of the World War II servicemen who accidentally provided a New Guinea tribe with their first encounter with the developed world in "Lost in Shangri-La," the nonfiction author speaks directly to his reader, and hearing the book in his voice makes sense.

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