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Health & Fitness

The Free Word: A Not so "new" New Year's New York Recording

How many times can you put the word “new” in a title?  We are already into our second month of 2014 but it is still the “New Year” nonetheless.  At Librivox, an internationally recognized group of readers, narrators, voice-over artists, sound editors, graphic artists, proof listeners and computer whizzes who have the goal of making as many works of the printed word available for free over the Internet or downloadable to a mobile device, the New Year is in full swing.   As a proud member of Librivox I have recorded many stories, essays, book chapters, poems, dramatic readings and even full length books. Librivox, by the way, means variously Free Word, Free Voice, or Book Voice. 

A Librivox recording is timeless.  Whether it be Shakespeare, the Holy Bible, or A.A. Milne (the creator of Winnie the Pooh), the written word comes to life via the spoken word.  To celebrate the New Year, it seems fitting to spotlight one of America’s timeless writers: Washington Irving.  Perhaps best known for his “A Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle,” Irving was also a satirist and political commentator who contributed much to our nation’s early literature.  Perhaps one of his largest volumes is “Knickerbocker’s History of New York.”  Recorded and released in two parts, this fascinating account of that great city’s formation is a hilarious, head scratching and informative all at once.  My contribution to this particular project is the recording of many chapters in what ultimately clocks in as a 72 chapter, 14 hour experience.

“The main object of my work, in fact, had a bearing wide from the sober aim of history, but one which, I trust, will meet with some indulgence from poetic minds,” wrote Washington Irving. “It was to embody the traditions of our city in an amusing form; to illustrate its local humors, customs and peculiarities; to clothe home scenes and places and familiar names with those imaginative and whimsical associations so seldom met with in our new country, but which live like charms and spells about the cities of the old world, binding the heart of the native inhabitant to his home.”

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Whether you are from New York or not, any follower of Washington Irving, lover of history and good prose, will find much to please them in this great work.  Please check out the many talented people who all contributed to bringing this wonderful tale to your computer, pad, MP3 player or cell phone.  The great news is that there is NO COST at all to enjoy this and thousands of other wonderful works of literature available at Librivox.

Here are the links to open up this gift from the past: 

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You can play or download the entire book, or any individual chapter(s) of your choosing.

Please keep an eye on this space.  I intend to periodically highlight some of the recording projects I have been a part of.  Although the New Year is in full swing, may I still take this opportunity to wish you a very blessed and happy one! 

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