The Classic Tales Podcasts and Audiobooks

Cover from the first edition This week, we lampoon detectives the world over with " The Stolen White Elephant ," by Mark Twain!  This story was written in 1882, a time when detective stories were all the rage (think Edgar Allan Poe's " The Murders in the Rue Morgue ").  Mark Twain never missed an opportunity to poke fun at anything or anyone. B.J. Harrison has been thinking about producing this story for about three years. I take full credit (not really) for nudging him on a recent facebook post. The story is about a white elephant meant as a gift to the Queen of England from the Emperor of India.  Somehow, this animal, we'll call him Jumbo for the sake of brevity, disappears somewhere in New Jersey, and hilarity ensues.   Does this sound silly?  That's because this story is a farce, a light dramatic work in which highly improbable plot situations, exaggerated characters, and often slapstick elements are used for humorous effect .*  In thes...

Last Friday, marked the 6th anniversary of B.J. Harrison's The Classic Tales Podcast .  This gives me the perfect opportunity to write about some of my favorite stories he has produced during the many years I've listened to the Podcast. I am trying to remember what the first story I listened to was, I think it was Arthur Conan Doyle's " The Speckled Band ."  Although I had read that story a bunch of times, B.J. really made it come alive to me.  Ever since then, each time I read a Sherlock Holmes story, it is his version of the sleuth I hear in my head. Also, if you haven't heard B.J.'s  Jeeves and Wooster you are so missing out.  But don't worry, he has bundled all of the books and stories he's recorded by P.G. Wodehouse for you.  You will love every minute of it and be in constant stitches! But getting to listen to some of my favorite stories is only part of what makes me love this podcast.  There are so many wonderful books and short stori...

This week marks the release of the The Classic Tales Premium Podcast .   This means we get THREE episodes a week, when you count the regular Classic Tales Podcast . BJ Harrison will be releasing two episodes each week of the Premium Podcast as well as the Friday edition of the Classic Tales Podcast we all love and look forward to each week. BJ was really intimidated about the prospect of committing to produce three podcasts a week, but it looks like it will work out just fine.   Just make sure to subscribe and tell all your friends to do so too! How is he managing to produce three podcasts a week, you ask?   He’s figured out a way to " punch record " which basically erases the editing process, so he can get a great recording by using a little more care.  Lucky us! The first work BJ is producing for the Classic Tales Premium Podcast is The Gods of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs .   This is the second installment of Burroughs’ famo...

The Phantom Unmasked - Lon Chaney, Sr as the Phantom The Phantom of the Opera , by Gaston Leroux is now available for purchase at www.thebestaudiobooks.com . It is a premium podcast, and two - hour long episodes are released every week. The voices are coming along splendidly. I hope you like it. In the English-speaking world, Gaston Leroux is best known for creating The Phantom of the Opera . However, he is most noted in his own country for his splendid contribution to detective fiction. He is held as the French version of Arthur Conan Doyle. The most widely known of his detective novels is The Mystery of the Yellow Room , in which his protagonist, Joseph Rouletabille, solves one of the first "sealed room" mysteries. Here a crime is committed without anyone apparently able to do it. It really is quite a wonderful novel, and I'm planning on adding it to the Classic Tales Library in 2013. Another novel that I'm particularly fond of from Leroux i...