Beloved Berkshire actor Jonathan Epstein narrates Melville's classic.
In the world of audiobook publishing, there is no higher honor than the annual Audie Awards. This year, tiny but esteemed audiobook producer, Alison Larkin Presents of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, is competing with the goliath publishers of the audiobook business for the 2022 Audie Award in the Literary Fiction & Classics category.
Alison Larkin's Moby-Dick, narrated by renowned beloved Berkshire actor Jonathan Epstein, is nominated alongside audiobooks published by giants of the industry: Macmillan Audio, HarperAudio, and Penguin Audio.
Larkin's small but charming recording studio in the Stockbridge welcomed Epstein last year when, during the pandemic's darkest days, he drove all the way from Florida, sleeping in his car with a mini-harpoon at his side, to narrate Herman Melville's classic tale, considered one of the greatest American novels ever written.
The audiobook was launched at a release party/fundraiser last spring in Arrowhead, Melville's 1840s home in Pittsfield, with proceeds from the evening's sales supporting the home.
According to Larkin, "Moby-Dick was a massive undertaking for a company our size, and we're absolutely thrilled to be on the same line-up as Macmillan, Harper and Penguin audio."
Alison Larkin Presents has always punched way above its weight in the audiobook arena. Larkin's narration of The Complete Novels of Jane Austen is the Number One bestselling audio version of Austen's masterpieces, garnering glowing reviews from The New Yorker and many others. Audiobooks released by Alison Larkin Presents have garnered 13 Earphones awards from leading trade publication AudioFile Magazine, and Larkin's best-selling novel The English American was picked by Vogue and Redbook for book-of-the-month honors. On Valentine's day, AudioFile's featured Audiobook Break podcast will start featuring her narration of Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
Jonathan Epstein, the narrator of Moby-Dick, is best known locally for his more than 30-year association as actor, director, and teacher with Shakespeare & Company. He has also performed on and off-Broadway, in London's West End, and at regional theatres here in the Berkshires and around the country. He is currently Teaching Professor of Classical Performance at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training in Sarasota, Florida. He has been, for most of his life, an avid waterman.
Moby-Dick is the product of 60 hours of audio recording and another 60 hours of sound editing, to produce 25 hours of listening. It can be purchased at Alison Larkin Presents, on CDs or as an audio download. For more information, please visit Alison Larkin Presents https://alisonlarkinpresents.com/.
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