Jane Austen Tested Prose on Visitors

According to author Eric Burns, any author who truly cares about his work will read it audibly. "The writer will make sure there are no missed beats to distract us from his literary designs."
"He will pick up his typescript,...listen as [the words] ascend from the page, bouncing off the walls of his study and back again, returning to him in what is, in terms of cadence, their natural state."

"I find it necessary," John Steinbeck (1902 -1968) once said of his recitations, "for the sake of the rhythms."

Jane Austen (1775 - 1817) regularly held formal presentations in her parlor, serving tea and biscuits.
"As Miss Austen reads to friends and visitors, her eyes flit up, work the room, monitoring the effects of her prose. Is anyone yawning, looking away, scratching an imaginary itch? How many people are leaning forward hanging on the next words?

The author is like a comedian trying out new material on a weeknight at the Improv, sensitive to any nuance that will tell her whether it plays poorly or well."
Charles Dickens (1812 - 1870) travelled doing readings, tempering his work based on the mood of the time.

Moliere (1622 - 1673), the French playwright, got an initial reaction to his plays by reciting them to his cook.

Burns' observations leaves one wondering if our modern-day readings afford the author feedback of any kind or are book "signings" and readings simply photo-ops and promotions for books yet to be "tested."

Eric Burns, The Joy of Books, Prometheus Books, 1995.