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The History of Sound

Stories

Audiobook
0 of 3 copies available
Wait time: About 6 weeks
0 of 3 copies available
Wait time: About 6 weeks
WINNER OF THE STORY PRIZE SPOTLIGHT AWARD
LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FOR FICTION & THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION
AN ALA NOTABLE BOOK • ONE OF NPR’s “BOOKS WE LOVE” • ONE OF THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE’S 10 BEST BOOKS OF 2024 • BEST SHORT FICTION, KIRKUS REVIEWS
“Polyphonic fiction. . . . A reminder of the short story’s power. . . . The History of Sound marks Shattuck as one of the form’s brightest lights. . . . A terrific writer. . . . Deeply resonant.” —The Boston Globe
“Exquisitely crafted, deeply imagined, exhilaratingly diverse, The History of Sound places Ben Shattuck firmly among the very finest of our storytellers.”
—Geraldine Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of Horse
“Magnificent. . . . Poignant. . . . Exquisite.” —Publishers Weekly
A stunning collection of interconnected stories set in New England, exploring how the past is often misunderstood and how history, family, heartache, and desire can echo over centuries

In twelve luminous stories set across three centuries, The History of Sound examines the unexpected ways the past returns to us and how love and loss are entwined and transformed over generations. In Ben Shattuck's ingenious collection, each story has a companion story, which contains a revelation about the previous, paired story. Mysteries and murders are revealed, history is refracted, and deep emotional connections are woven through characters and families.
The haunting title story recalls the journey of two men who meet around a piano in a smoky, dim bar, only to spend a summer walking the Maine woods collecting folk songs in the shadow of the First World War, forever marked by the odyssey. Decades later, in another story, a woman discovers the wax cylinders recorded that fateful summer while cleaning out her new house in Maine. Shattuck’s inventive, exquisite stories transport readers from 1700s Nantucket to the contemporary woods of New Hampshire and beyond—into landscapes both enduring and unmistakably modern. Memories, artifacts, paintings, and journals resurface in surprising and poignant ways among evocative beaches, forests, and orchards, revealing the secrets, misunderstandings, and love that linger across centuries.
Written with breathtaking humanity and humor, The History of Sound is a love letter to New England, a radiant conversation between past and present, and a moving meditation on the abiding search for home.
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    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 10, 2024
      Shattuck follows his memoir, Six Walks, with a magnificent collection about love, longing, and New England history. In the title story, set in 1919 rural Maine, college students Lionel and David become lovers while spending the summer collecting folk songs on wax cylinders. “Origin Stories,” set in 1983, revisits Lionel and David’s story when a professor’s wife sees an interview with Lionel on TV and later discovers the cylinders hidden in the old house she and her husband recently moved into. Glimmers of the past confront the protagonist of “Graft” during her visit to Harvard’s Peabody Museum in 1893, where she sees a boy she thinks might be the baby she left to be raised by her sister-in-law. Shattuck shines especially in his depiction of nature, as in “The Journal of Thomas Thurber,” which recounts daily life at a logging camp in the winter of 1907–1908, where every man died under mysterious circumstances; and in “The Auk,” a poignant narrative that explains the existence of a 1991 photo of a long-extinct sea bird and reveals the story of the photographer, a man struggling to connect with his wife after she’s diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Deeply felt and impeccably researched, these exquisite stories capture the spirit of the Northeast. Agent: Claudia Ballard, WME.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The stories in this audiobook collection have subjects as wide as the list of narrators is long, and the result is excellent. All the titles--based in New England and spanning centuries--create their own world, yet connections both clear and subtle link them beautifully. There is not a weak performance, and each narrator is perfectly suited to his or her story. "Radiolab: Singularities," with its multiple narrators, makes great use of the audio format. Whether it's Zachary Chastain's outstanding dialogue in "August in the Forest," or Nick Offerman's ominous "Journal of Thomas Thurber," or some other work, each title leaves a distinct emotional impression. Thanks to every narrator's phrasing and pace, the layers within these stories add dimension without confusion or bulk. The result is a truly transporting experience. L.B.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

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Languages

  • English

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