Motoko Rich uncovers what may - or may not, since this is publishing, after all - be a new trend: audiobooks with pizzazz. How do you mean? Take Julian Rubinstein, who enlisted pals Gary Shteyngart & Eric Bogosian (not exactly nobodies) to perform as characters in the audiobook of BALLAD OF THE WHISKEY ROBBER, published in book format by Little, Brown. (Mind you, we first told you about this way back in March, and even linked you up with an MP3 of the theme song.)

Since the publisher had been reluctant to do an audiobook version, they made this - done on everyone's on time - available for download. Late last month online retailers, including iTunes and Audible.com, began offering the 111⁄2-hour download, along with a video clip of the real-life protagonist of the book, Attila Ambrus, reading an introduction from prison.

"I just think that this audio book is a lot more lively than most," said Mr. Rubinstein, who added that he has listened to only one or two books in this form. "If I knew of other audio books that were like this, I would be much more into it," he said. And as it happens, more are here or coming from Sarah Vowell, Adriana Trigiani and Greg Palast. Why? It's getting cheaper. With improvements in home recording tools, some more entrepreneurial authors may decide to record their own works. "The truth is, if you have a Mac at home and the software that comes with it, it doesn't cost much more for you to have a decent little recording set up," said Geoff Shandler, editor in chief of Little, Brown.