Interview

Talking With
MARILYN JOHNSON

Marilyn Johnson’s THIS BOOK IS OVERDUE! uncovers in vivid, witty detail exactly what librarians are up to today--and it’s a lot more radical, cutting-edge, and courageous than many nonlibrarians would imagine. As she did with her previous book on obituary writers (THE DEAD BEAT), Johnson goes deep inside “a world of fascinating, knowledgeable people, a world invented without me. I’m just crawling around with my flashlight to show what they have created.” THIS BOOK IS OVERDUE!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All has earned rave reviews, and Johnson, an audiobook fan, is very pleased that it’s now available in audio. (For more about the author, go to marilynjohnson.net and thisbookisoverdue.com.)

AF: Did you know you would become a champion for librarians?
MJ: I had not imagined that people were going to be calling and asking me to speak to library groups in 2012. Really, my natural state is to crack wise and make jokes. But I feel I should be an advocate right now. People need to hear that librarians are holding up our democracy and providing a core service just as important as that of firefighters, police, and teachers. If libraries went away, we’d be divided into those who could afford to buy Apple products and those who couldn’t. Who do you think would control all the information?

AF: How do audiobooks fit into your reading life?
MJ: One of the first books I heard was Bill Bryson reading his NOTES FROM A SMALL ISLAND, and his voice was so funny and wonderful, I began to actively look for audiobooks. I loved AWAY by Amy Bloom narrated by Barbara Rosenblat. More recently, I’ve heard Barbara Ehrenreich’s BRIGHT-SIDED, THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS by Rebecca Skloot, and Scott Turow’s INNOCENT. Listening was a fabulous way for me to catch up with Stieg Larsson’s narratives. My ideal is to experience a book multiple ways, listening and then going back and reading parts of it, and then seeing the movie, as I did with THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO and UP IN THE AIR.

AF: What else are you drawn to hear?
MJ: I love listening to poetry. The first time I heard Walt Whitman’s voice in a collection (IN THEIR OWN VOICES), I got chills and had to play it over and over. I’m really interested in archival sound recordings like the Ellis Island Oral History Project, the voices of World War II survivors, the StoryCorps collection. Voice recordings are a great way to capture a moment in time.

AF: Did you find librarians well educated about audiobooks?
MJ: Good grief, yes. Audiobooks are a huge part of librarianship. Audiobooks draw people to libraries. It’s expensive for any individual to build a library of audiobooks, so people come to the place where audio resources can be shared--such a green concept!--Priscilla Grant

AUG/SEP 10
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