Listening Is an Act of Love (2007)

A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project.

For those of you who have never heard of StoryCorps: You need to listen to NPR more often! Founded by Dave Isay (who edited this collection), the group's mission "is to provide American's of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of their lives."

Traditionally speaking, history is written by the victors. And not just the victors, but usually only the wealthy and politically powerful victors. So, generations from now, what happens to us - the common man? We decay into statistics and vague generalizations correlating to our time period. And what happens to our private stories of personal triumphs and failures? No matter how wonderful, powerful, or teaching these stories might be, they dissipate into the ether.

Dave Isay set out to stop that vicious cycle. He and his StoryCorps cohort travel the country, giving anybody the opportunity to record a conversation for posterity. In this way, the folk heroes of modern America are given a chance to live forever when all the recordings are stored at the Library of Congress.

This book is a collection of transcripts of exemplary interviews recorded by the project. Although interview excerpts can be heard weekly on NPR (and via the group's podcast), reading these stories presented a new perspective - turning the interviews into true "stories." The nature of these stories ranges from the humorous (a man using a wooden leg to protect himself from a dog) to the powerful (a man returning a favor nearly 50 years later) to the tragic (a prisoner trying to overcome drug addiction). The last section is dedicated solely to tragic stories about September 11 and Hurricane Katrina.

While reading this book, I could not help remembering my grandfather. In retrospect, his experiences in the Great Depression and World War II would have made him an ideal folk hero. Yet, I was happy to read so many stories that paralleled his - people who made it through the hard times with dignity - people never complained about hard work - people who made this world a better place without consideration for individual egos.

I cannot recommend this book for the weak of heart or the emotionally sensitive; some of the stories are downright heartbreaking. But, I wholeheartedly recommend the book. Traced throughout these stories is the strength of the common man during uncommon times. It is a comforting feeling to realize that there are other people who, without glory or commendation, live upright and moral lives. And they live to tell the tale.