I am Kyle's self-indulgence

Every once in a while I read something or see something or hear something that so specifically addresses my experiences and interests that you feel it was written just for me. This morning on the way to work I heard a story on the radio that was tailored in such a way that, as the story unravelled, each detail brought me new joys.

NPR's Morning Edition introduced this piece as part of an Open Mic program, in which a famous individual takes a turn as an interviewer. This morning that individual was Neil Gaiman (joy!) talking about audiobooks. He began with an ancient recording of Walt Whitman reading his own work (joy! joy!) as an introduction to how he loves hearing writers read their own work aloud. Gaiman's first interviewee in the story is David Sedaris (joy! joy! joy!), a man well-known for his oral readings.

To explain my personal response, I've recently (in the past several years) discovered the joys of hearing an author read his/her own work aloud, and my two favorite examples of writers who do it well are Neil Gaiman and David Sedaris. In fact, I've never even read a print edition of one of Sedaris's books: I've only heard his audiobooks, because I love they way he performs them.

This was a great way to start my drive to work this morning.