Listening Is an Act of Love

A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project

By: Dave Isay

Narrated by: Dave Isay, StoryCorps Participants

From more than ten thousand interviews, StoryCorps—the largest oral history project in the nation's history—presents a tapestry of American stories, told by the people who lived them to the people they love.

StoryCorps began with the idea that everyone has an important story to tell. And since 2003, this remarkable project has been collecting the stories of everyday Americans and preserving them for future generations. In New York City and in mobile recording booths traveling the country—from small towns to big cities, at Native American reservations and an Army post—StoryCorps is collecting the memories of Americans from all ages, backgrounds, and walks of life. The project represents a wondrous nationwide celebration of our shared humanity, capturing for posterity the stories that define us and bind us together.

In Listening Is an Act of Love, StoryCorps founder and legendary radio producer Dave Isay selects some of the most remarkable stories from the already vast collection and arranges them thematically into a moving portrait of American life. The voices here connect us to real people and their lives—to their experiences of profound joy, sadness, courage and despair, to good times and hard times, to good deeds and misdeeds.

To read this book is to be reminded of how rich and varied the American storybook truly is, how resistant to easy categorization or caricature. Above all, this book honors the gift each StoryCorps participant has made, from the raw material of his or her life, to the Americans who will come after. We are our history, individually and collectively, and Listening Is an Act of Love touchingly reminds us of this powerful truth.©2008 Penguin; ©2008 Dave Isay

Critic reviews

Dave Isay's vision of collecting the everyday stories of Americans is so simple and yet so powerful. Listening Is an Act of Love will make you laugh, cry and think. These stories come from the souls of individual Americans. Collectively, they are who we are as a people. You cannot read this book without feeling proud of your country." -Former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley "Dave Isay's Listening Is an Act of Love is a gift. I loved this book. I savored these stories. So candid. So open-hearted. So full of life. The StoryCorps project may well be the most important cultural event in America today. It's about us. About who we are. About where we've come from, and where we want to go. Listening Is an Act of Love is the equivalent of eavesdropping on America. Read it - and pass it on to family and friends. It'll inspire." -Alex Kotlowitz "Here are the observations and memories of a giant, diverse nation's citizens. In its sum, StoryCorps asks Americans to reflect upon their experiences, their times of travail, their achievements. In so doing, these individuals create an encompassing national narration: a people's hopes, fears and aspirations, all rendered poignantly to attentive listeners whose respect has enabled, finally, a presentation of a people's mind, heart, soul." -Dr. Robert Coles, James Agee Professor of Social Ethics, Harvard University "This book is absolutely remarkable. Listening is an Act of Love is history in the richest sense of the word, the kind that makes people feel like they count. It's a celebration of the lives of the uncelebrated. In our world today people feel helpless, but once they speak of their lives they become alive! This is what our country is all about. Never has a book been more timely or necessary." -Studs Terkel

Nice Collection of StoryCorps Vignettes

An abridged collection of some of the best StoryCorps inteviews. If you are an NPR "Morning Edition" listener, you've probably caught a couple of Isay's StoryCorps recordings. My favorite aspect of this project is the relationship between the interviewer and interviewee. With most 'professional' journalism there is a structural distance between the two participants. StoryCorps quickly allows this distance to melt, because it is often a daughter interviewing a grandma, a son interviewing a mother, a father speaking with his daughter.

There are many aspects of this project that remind me of Studs Terkel (Isay seems to be a 21st century extention of Terkel in many ways). It is a people's history and narrative of the ordinary that is made extraordinary in its ability to communicate truth without being overly sentimental.

Thanks Isay and Audible for the Thanksgiving gift.

Beautiful & Touching

This audiobook is unlike any other I've listened to and a wonderful Thanksgiving gift from Audible. The collection of stories contained within are funny, sad and heartwarming. It's a wonderful reminder of why we should be thankful for what we have and those that love us. I highly recommend it.

Terrific! But Not Nearly Enough!

Great conversations . . . . only wish there were hours and hours available! Would absolutely buy more.

Heartwarming

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I found it very heartwarming and shared the stories with my family and friends.

What did you like best about this story?

The concept of recording your talks with loved ones to keep for the ages.

What does Dave Isay bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A very soothing and inviting voice. He makes you want to listen to the stories.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It gave me a warm feeling inside making me want to share it with my loved ones.

Any additional comments?

Great!

Awesome Listen

Would you consider the audio edition of Listening Is an Act of Love to be better than the print version?

Oh most definitely! To hear the emotions in the story teller's voices and feel what they were describing was very nice.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Listening Is an Act of Love?

The story of the soldier who wanted to buy a ticket to watch a movie in a theater, that story really touched me.

What does Dave Isay bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His introduction at the beginning, he frames it very nicely and sets the listener up with anticipation and it certainly does not disappoint! I will miss Dave Isay, what a great guy!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I will listen to it again in the future as well.

Any additional comments?

Please continute to offer these kinds of products...they really are priceless! I sincerely hope the program in which this book was based will continue it's good work around the country.