Robert Caro’s next release is audio only

NEW YORK Robert Caro’s next book is for ears only.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian is planning an audio-only release, On Power, drawing upon his years as an investigative journalist and his research into the lives of U.S. president Lyndon Johnson and municipal builder Robert Moses. On Power will be narrated by Caro and released exclusively through the audiobook producer Audible Inc., which has set a May 9 release date.

“My books are an attempt to examine and explain political power: how it is created, how it works, how it can be used — for good and for ill,” Caro said in a statement. “I thought it was important to try to do that because that power shapes all our lives — in ways large and small. And I felt the more America understands about political power, the better informed our voters would be, and then, hopefully, the better our democracy would be.”

“Over and over again,” he added, “I have come across aspects of political power that I had not previously understood, or, indeed, known existed. I agreed to do On Power because I thought it might add something if I talked, in a more informal manner than in my books, about some moments that helped me personally in that learning process.”

Caro, 81, is known for his biography of Moses, The Power Broker, and for his epic series on Johnson, which he began more than 40 years ago. All five of his previous books have come out in audio editions, none narrated by Caro. (His books sometimes run more than 1,000 pages.) He is proudly oldfashioned in his working methods, preferring typewriters to computers, and On Power should prove a brief diversion from the fifth and presumed final volume about LBJ. No publication date has been set for the book. The previous four Johnson books have brought Caro a Pulitzer, a National Book Award and numerous other honours.

The audiobook was initiated by Audible after senior director Tyler Cabot saw Caro speak last September at Harvard during a celebration of the Pulitzer’s centennial and wrote to the historian. According to Audible, On Power will provide Caro readers “a private audience with the legendary author as he tells the personal stories that shaped him as a reporter and informed his understanding of political power. Longtime fans of Caro’s work, as well as those seeking a more personal introduction to his body of work and life, will be treated to his trademark wit and revelatory insight.”

Audiobook sales have soared in recent years, although audio-only releases by authors of Caro’s stature are uncommon. Previous audioonly works include Tom Wolfe’s Ambush at Fort Bragg and Jeffrey Deaver’s The Starling Project.