I’ve had folks who purchased SPUNKY GRANDMAS….And Other Amusing Characters tell me they’ve had occasion to read aloud to friends or family some of the stories in the book and say it’s been a fun experience. I’ve also had plenty of personal experience sharing them aloud with audiences on the many river cruise boat appearances I’ve made. I have learned, usually the hard way, some stories are better left exclusively to readers because they fall flat when read aloud.
If the humor is a little too subtle, audiences sometimes don’t get the joke and aren’t able to go back and figure it out. A reader has the advantage of being able to re-read and connect the dots.
For a listener, It seems to depend on the last two lines of the sonnet. If they deliver a good punchline that’s been set up well by the first twelve lines, the story is a hit. But one that might seem amusing or clever to a reader can be a real dud when aloud without a good punchline.
The book was written mostly with readers in mind, but I’ve found there are many that also work well for listeners. Obviously, those are the ones I rely on when I do appearances.