Category: book Nook
Hi all,
First and foremost...no, this isn't a thinly veiled plea for a torrent of a commercial audiobook, so please don't get on my back for breaking the terms of service.
Indeed, I'm wondering if any of you have come across anywhere that might host or be able to provide an unabridged version of Floating Dragon by Peter Straub. There is an abridged version, but the abridgment is brutal (as in, two hours long and this is a novel we're talking about), and I have looked all over trying to find an unabridged version. I don't really care if the narrator isn't great so long as it's listenable; I'm hoping someone like NLS or whatnot might have it, but being in Canada means I can't really check for myself as far as I know.
If anyone knows where I can find this book, or has further recommendations, I'd be very grateful. This is one of Straub's older books that I've wanted to read for a couple of years now, ever since I heard of it back in 2010 or so. I was actually reading The Tommyknockers at the time, if that matters at all.
Thanks in advance.
Yes! NLS has it. The complete unabridged rendition. I have it on one of my SD cards because I have a Victor. Bob Askey reads it. They have a lot of Peter Straub books on that site actually, including Ghost Story, which I assume is also a rarity. Merwin Smith reads that one, and both he and Askey are among my favorite NLS narrators. I don't know why you can't get an NLS account even if you're in Canada, but I don't know what rules may be in play. I can just inquire by calling my Albany branch up this way if you want. Cheers!--John
Did audible have it? I know they had Ghost Story and Shadow Land.
audible's copy is abridged.
And NLS's rendition is unabridged.
Bookshare has a copy, but I can't tell if it's abridged or not. I may check it out, and if I do, I'll let you know if it's abridged or not.
Here's what bookshare says about it.
Floating Dragon
Peter Straub
Brief Synopsis:The quiet suburban town of Hampstead is threatened by two horrors.
Long Synopsis:N/A
Book Quality:Excellent
Book Size:307 Pages
ISBN-13:9780425189641
Publisher:N/A
Date of Addition:04/27/06
Copyright Date:1982
Copyrighted By:Peter Straub
Adult content:No
Language:English
Categories:Horror, Literature and Fiction
Status:Live
I know you asked for an audio book, but with the right tools, you can get synthetic speech audio.
Bob
I'd definitely prefer an honest-to-god audiobook if that's possible, but yeah.
From what I knew, NLS was American only, but if that has changed or if I've been misinformed, then I could easily go grab the Bob Askey version from them and that would suit me right down to the ground.
Ghost Story has more recently been re-released read by Buck Sherner (or however you spell his last name). Shadowland is also commercial.
I don't get Straub's thing with being okay about abridging his books. It took me awhile to find an unabridged version of Lost Boy, Lost Girl, for instance.
Thanks for the info, guys.
Maybe it's all about the money. Back when cassettes were king, people used to buy me audio books on cassette for Christmas all the time, which I hated because they were almost invariably abridged. I was polite, but I ended up telling them not to bother because if I can't get it from NLS, I didn't want anything but unabridged.
Okay...so I just checked things out a bit, and NLS definitely wants you to be an American citizen in order to sign up.
I have checked the CNIB, and the only rare one they had was The Hellfire Club, which I snagged. They don't have Floating Dragon. I didn't know this book was quite so rare.
Johndy, or anyone else, if you could help out a bit, I'd appreciate it. If there's anything else I can do, let me know, please.
I can see what can be done. I'm usually pretty busy with work during the day, but can call my NLS branch in New York. I'll ask out of curiosity, of course, and maybe there's nothing that can be done, but we'll see.
Hi. I would like to have a reading contest to make cash. I not sure how we actually read
but we do it. This horror book could be awesome with a decent narrator. Bronson
pinchot. I am listening to arty johnson reading a cool thriller and he is 85.