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The Reader's Digest condensed books weren't abridgements at all. In an abridgement they cut parts out but they don't change anything. The Reader's Digest condensations were complete re-writes that told the same story with a lot less detail.
Audiobooks in stores in their early days were usually abridged. Most were cut down to 180 minutes. Some to 360 minutes and longer. These were sold on cassette with 2 or 4 tapes and the prices were from about $15 to about $30 or $40. You could also buy unabridged audiobooks in those days but the selection was small and they usually started about $60 and most were over $80 and $100 was pretty common. Some of those books came on a lot of cassettes. Most took 8 to 10 cassettes and quite a few were over 20 cassettes.
The very first audiobook I bought in a store was a 60 minute abridgement on a single tape of "Nerve" by Dick Francis, who I'd never heard of before. When I bought it I had no idea it was abridged even though I later realized it said so plainly on the package. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think the price was about $8 on sale. I've been reading his novels ever since. I recently read "Nerve" on my Kindle. I don't remember much about that early audio version so I can't compare but it was a fun book to read.
Barry
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