Or, if he doesn't now, he will awfully soon—because just as he's done for the first six volumes in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Jim Dale (right) will be reading the unabridged text out loud for the 21-hour-plus audiobook, which the Listening Library wing of Random House Audio will release in the United States on July 21, simultaneously with the Scholastic hardcover. No word yet on what's he going to do once there's no more Potter to narrate, but given his recent turns on Broadway (in Buskery Alley and The Three Penny Opera), he shouldn't have too much trouble finding something to keep himself busy...

The deal for the audiobook was finally settled enough for Random House to issue an official press release yesterday. According to that statement, "Listening Library was represented in the recently concluded negotiations for the North American audiobook rights for the novel by [Random House Audio president] David Naggar... Christopher Little of the Christopher Little Literary Agency in London represented the author. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed." Henh; I'd have thought this would have been locked down ages ago, but I guess not.