Hemingway classics to be released on audio

Audio editions of “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “A Farewell to Arms” and other full-length Ernest Hemingway classics, long available only to libraries, will soon be sold to the general public.

“The market for unabridged, full-length books only started taking off over the last few years. And we think Hemingway will be especially popular for audio downloads,” says Chris Lynch, executive vice president and publisher of Simon & Schuster Audio.

Lynch said that the audio versions had been distributed by Books on Tape, a division of Random House that sells primarily to schools and libraries. Simon & Schuster, which releases the print editions, acquired the audio rights after they became available last year.

“Reading Hemingway is to listen to him, to ‘hear’ the dialogue,” says the author’s son, Patrick Hemingway. “The spoken-word versions will certainly add another dimension to his writing and will entice new audiences to his work.”

In May, audio versions of “A Farewell to Arms,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “The Old Man and the Sea” will be released, with the readers still to be announced.

Other audio books to come include “The Sun Also Rises,” “A Moveable Feast” and “Death in the Afternoon.”

Hemingway’s short stories, read by actor Stacy Keach, already are sold through Simon & Schuster Audio.