Narrators

Talking with Nick Landrum

"I was an actor before I went to film school," says Nick Landrum, so after directing/engineering audiobooks for three years, it was natural for him to make the transition to the other side of the glass. "I learned a lot from directing audiobooks because I was able to crib technique from some great narrators," among them George Guidall and Henry Strozier. In this issue, we recognize his work on THE VIRGIN SUICIDES by Jeffrey Eugenides. "VIRGIN SUICIDES was kind of a dream project for me," he says. He tells us that after reading it, he thought, "This is something I would love to do," but since it was an older book, he didn't think he'd have the chance. "When it came up, I was thrilled." Bob Dylan's CHRONICLES offered a particular challenge for him because "I held [Dylan] in such high esteem, and I didn't want to do an impression of him." While Nick still does editing work for Recorded Books, "problem solving and fixes mostly," he really loves narrating. "It's so satisfying when you really nail something." Nick believes that, at their best, audiobooks are "an intimate experience." Having a voice in your head "makes it a very powerful and evocative medium, and one that still leaves so much to the imagination."