How do I cite an audiobook?

Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook.

To cite an audiobook, include the book’s author and title along with the publication details for the audiobook version. If noteworthy or relevant, list the narrator in the Other Contributors slot. Give the publisher of the audiobook in the Publisher slot. The medium of publication can be listed in the final optional-element slot:

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. Narrated by Claire Danes et al., Audible, 2017. Audiobook.

If you downloaded the audiobook to a device, don’t include the website from which you downloaded it. (In the example above, Audible is included as the publisher of the audiobook, not as its seller or distributor.)

If it’s important for your reader to know the format of the audiobook, include it in the optional-element slot at the end of the entry:

Berendt, John. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Narrated by Jeff Woodman, Random House Audio, 1997. Audiobook, 10 cassettes.

If you listened to the audiobook (or a clip from it) on the web, include the website as a second container:

Heaney, Seamus, translator. Beowulf. Narrated by Heaney, audiobook, abridged edition, HighBridge Audio, 2006. Audible.com, www.audible.com/pd/Classics/Beowulf-Audiobook/B002V5CVPY/.

In-text citations for audio sources should include the relevant time or range of times in hours, minutes, and seconds:

(Atwood 01:47:12-29)