Matt Bomer to voice 10th anniversary audiobook of A Little Life: ‘A profound responsibility’
Get your Kleenex at the ready… A 10th anniversary edition of the A Little Life audiobook is coming – and this time it’s read by Matt Bomer.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since we were first introduced to Jude, Willem, JB and Malcolm in Hanya Yanagihara’s tearjerking queer text.
Since then, the book as gone on to be shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, become an international bestseller and spawn a West End adaptation starring James Norton (and about a million t-shirts and tote bags).
“I was truly, deeply moved to be asked to read Hanya’s brilliant, heartbreaking, and timeless novel,” said Bomer, speaking to Vulture about coming on board the project. “It’s a book that I’ve been fascinated with since I first heard about it, and having the opportunity to bring these characters to life was both a profound responsibility for me and a chance to fall in love with her work all over again. It’s a piece that, for me at least, changed me as a person after I read it – and what more can we ask for in art?”
Fans of the book will recall it’s gargantuan length, coming in at 736–814 pages depending on the edition, making the recording of such a book no mean feat for Bomer. “I am so grateful for the guidance and consideration of our brilliant director Christina Rooney (who let me have walking breaks and step out of my 6 x 6 cubicle to clear my head every now and then!) and our highly skilled engineer Sharon Kearney who were so patient with me in my exploration,” he added.
“It was truly a labor of love for all of us. Suffice it to say we were motivated, moved and, at times, undone by Hanya’s sheer genius.”
“It’s a dream to have Matt Bomer – an actor of great generosity, beauty, and depth – as the new voice of the A Little Life audiobook” – Hanya Yanagihara
Whilst the book has been hugely popular and is considered one of the seminal queer novels of the 21st century, Yanagihara has also received criticism for what some readers felt were gratuitous depictions of self harm and gay trauma within the book. During the adaptation’s run on the West End, there were reports of theatregoers feeling traumatised by the play.
“It’s a dream to have Matt Bomer – an actor of great generosity, beauty, and depth – as the new voice of the A Little Life audiobook,” Yanagihara said. “New listeners will get to experience the book as I’d always hoped; repeat ones will, I think, find new dimensions thanks to Matt’s subtlety and skill.”
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