by Cyrus Farivar
This summer, Hugh McGuire was searching for free audio books online from his home in Montreal. He didn’t find very much.
So McGuire launched LibriVox by recruiting amateur readers to create audio files of works of literature. The project now includes almost two dozen complete works, including Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent, Jack London’s The Call of the Wild and other classic novels and poems.
At the current rate of recording, McGuire says he expects LibriVox to hit 30 complete works by the end of the year.
McGuire said the zeal that different readers bring to each chapter gives the project a certain intimacy.
“It’s a more personal experience, it feels like someone’s reading to you rather than a professional, packaged thing,” he said.
