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EntityQ106833· pop 67· linked from 2,912 articles

audiobook

Also known as audio book, talking book, audiobooks

An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.

AI overview

An audiobook is a recording of a book or other work being read aloud, allowing people to listen to stories and information instead of reading text. Complete recordings are called "unabridged," while shortened versions are called "abridgements."

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Image: Audio Book Icon 1.svg

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Commons category: Audiobooks
equivalent class: schema.org/Audiobook
P13411: Botswana

Sources (7)

via Wikidata · CC0

~25 min read

Article

17 sections

Contents

Etymology
History
United States
Beginnings to 1970
1970 to 1996
1996 to present
Germany
India
Production
Formats
Use
Listening practices
Charitable and nonprofit organizations
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Spoken audio has been available in schools and public libraries and to a lesser extent in music shops since the 1930s. Many spoken word albums were made prior to the age of cassettes, compact discs, and downloadable audio, often of poetry and plays rather than books. It was not until the 1980s that the medium began to attract book retailers, and then book retailers started displaying audiobooks on bookshelves rather than in separate displays.