Audiobook: Don't Fix Your Marriage! by David Toledano
Landing The Book
I’m happy to say that I’ve been able to stay busy during this weird time. Since the quarantine/stay-at-home order/social distancing started back in March and some of my side gigs dried up, I’ve been pretty solidly booked with audiobook and other voiceover work.
This time around, I’m stepping back into nonfiction, something I haven’t done since producing “Zoomies, Subs, and Zeroes” several months ago. I auditioned for and won the job of narrating Don’t Fix Your Marriage: Build an exceptional on by design by Rabbi David Toledano. The title pretty much sums up what the book is about.
Starting The Book
This was the first time where I’ve been hired by an audiobook publishing company and I’ve been able to have a meeting with the author, which was a nice change.
Generally, when I’m working with independent authors, such as Shami Stovall (Frith Chronicles), Neil Martin (Ethan Drake Series), and James Duval (The War of Embers), I get to have a lot of interaction with them, and I feel it only helps my performance.
When working through publishers, I’m usually a few steps detached form the author and don’t get to deal with them directly. The upside in those gigs is that usually I don’t have to do the editing, which means I can complete the project more quickly.
In this case, my contacts at Pro Audio Voices, the resolute Becky Parker Geist and the indomitable Emily Power, arranged for a Zoom meeting with Rabbi David so that we could all touch base, and I could get some help with pronouncing some of the Hebrew in the manuscript.
It was a wonderful and educational (and quick!) meeting, and I left excited to get started on this project.
Recording The Book
So far, recording has been very, very smooth. For one, narration will always benefit from good writing. It’s clear that Rabbi David took the time to not only organize his thoughts from a long career into a coherent narrative, but also to take the manuscript through a proper revision process. Add in little hits of humor here and there, and it’s been a breeze to record.
Now, real talk: there have been a few moments here and there where I started to ask myself, “Do I really want to record this book?” Rabbi David writes about marriage from a “traditional” point of view, between that of a man and a woman, and I have to admit that I would be in the middle of a chapter and feel a little uncomfortable. Does this really reflect the modern institution of marriage? Do I want to lend my voice to this? I’m very sensitive to what jobs I take; I don’t ever want to be the voice of the oppressor.
But then, without fail, by the end of the chapter my fears are alleviated. Rabbi David will wrap up the chapter with something that shows that the advice he is offering can apply to anyone, and that he isn’t passing judgement; he merely writes from his own experience, admitting that he doesn’t own the Truth.
Fun Facts
I learned that, in Hebrew, nouns have their own verbs.
In English, we wear a shirt, we wear pants, we wear a ring, we wear a coat, etc. In Hebrew, each of those nouns (shirt, pants, ring, coat) has its own verb for “wear”.
I also learned, much to my heart’s delight, that the word for “dog” in Hebrew is “kelev”. The word “LEV” means “heart”, and the word “KEL” means “made of” or “a being of”. So kelev means “a being of heart”.
I can’t think of a better way to describe a dog.
Samples
This passage from Chapter 3 gave me a little chuckle. It’s about the author and a former student of his talking about why she is having a difficult time meeting someone special, and he’s offered to help.
Reviews
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