Tony Award-Winning Actor John Benjamin Hickey to Narrate John Irving's New Audiobook, IN ONE PERSON

NEW YORK, May 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Simon & Schuster Audio is proud to announce that Tony Award-winning actor John Benjamin Hickey will narrate John Irving's highly anticipated audiobook, IN ONE PERSON, due out May 8, 2012. The audiobook will be available unabridged in both CD and download formats.

Hickey, who received a 2011 Tony Award for his appearance in The Normal Heart on Broadway and currently appears on Showtime's The Big C, makes his debut as an audiobook narrator with this publication.

"I have been a fan of Mr. Irving's for many years, so being asked to read his new book was such an honor," says Hickey.  "The book has the most extraordinary spirit, filled with all the things that has made his writing mean so much to so many over the years, but with a completely new, fresh take on the universe that is humane, funny, and very moving. It was a thrill for me to be a part of it."

John Irving adds, "It wasn't hard for me to embrace the idea of John Benjamin Hickey as the reader for the audio version of my novel IN ONE PERSON.  I love his work, and I'd recently seen him onstage as the doomed Felix in Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart.  The main character, and first-person narrator, of IN ONE PERSON is a bisexual man — Billy Abbot is a sexual outsider, or misfit, who becomes growingly confident about who he is, sexually.  But Billy's coming-of-age period, his sexual self-discovery, comprises more than half the novel.  I think John Benjamin Hickey does a fabulous job of inhabiting Billy's sexual uncertainty — in Billy's early years — and Billy's self-confidence as an older man.  This is more than a loss-of-innocence story; my narrator is on a collision course with the AIDS epidemic, and John Benjamin Hickey tells his story very, very well."

"In audio publishing there are times when the novel and narrator come together to create something truly special," says Chris Lynch, Executive Vice President & Publisher of Simon & Schuster Audio.  "John Benjamin Hickey's reading of John Irving's latest masterwork IN ONE PERSON is a beautiful example of that.  It is an unforgettable listening experience."

Tragic, funny, and heartfelt, IN ONE PERSON will surely be one of this summer's not-to-miss audiobooks. For more information on the audiobook and an exclusive video interview with John Benjamin Hickey, visit: http://pages.simonandschuster.com/in-one-person-audiobook/.

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Audio is a leading publisher of general interest audiobooks including bestselling fiction, nonfiction, business/finance, self-improvement, inspiration, language learning programs, original audiobook productions, and children's titles. In addition to a list that includes such unparalleled authors as Mary Higgins Clark, Vince Flynn, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, Michael Lewis, and David McCullough. Simon & Schuster Audio has produced audiobooks that have won seven Grammy Awards and earned thirty-five Grammy nominations since 1989. For more information about Simon & Schuster Audio, visit our website at www.audio.simonandschuster.com.

Simon & Schuster, a part of the CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in and international companies in Australia, Canada, India and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com.

SOURCE Simon & Schuster Audio