While driving across the US this summer, I was listening to "The Optimist's Daughter," by Eudora Welty, read by her. I was completely sunk into the sound of her voice, the setting (New Orleans area), and completely forgot where I was (eastern Montana). My engine coughed, missed a few times, I wrenched myself out of the tape enough to see my battery indicator swinging wildly to and fro--and I panicked because I hadn't a clue where I was, if there was a town close by--nada. I was lucky, there was a town in coasting range (my alternator quit on the spot)--but I can never listen to that tape without remembering that day. I also listen to poetry on tape a lot while driving I-5 anywhere (I-5 runs from Los Angeles to Seattle). I tried listening to tapes when I lived in NH, but the roads were too curvey and I kept having near accidents. I need the straight and narrow of the West to listen and drive at the same time.