Will an Apple Superdrive read an MP3 file?

My wife bought an audio book in mp3 format. I put it in an older Samsung external drive intending to import it to her desktop imac so she could listen to the book. The drive did nothing but spin and stop. I have imported into itunes many music files using this drive. Is an mp3 file different from music files on a standard music cd? In any case would a new Superdrive be able to read the mp3 file? or is there a better answer. Apologies inadvance if this is a dumb question. Thanks