"Fantastic makes me want to be involved"

Overall

Performance

Story

Would you listen to Listening Is an Act of Love again? Why?

This is touching. I loved hearing other people's life stories. You laugh and could cry with this book. It's short and I just want to hear more. It's fantastic.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The in love couple where great but there was an old man from a war that was touching also. How fabulous if our parents or great great grandparents had left us audio. It would leave you wanting more.

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

He's a good narrator. The music ran a little long between stories but cool book.

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

Both.

Editorial Review

Four years ago. StoryCorps set out to record an oral history of America with the voices of everyday people. This book is a collection of the most compelling excerpts from more than 10,000 interviews recorded, compiled by StoryCorps founder Isay (Flophouse), a radio documentary producer and MacArthur fellow. And they are compelling. Each one captures a moment in time—historical, emotional or personal—that make us who we are. As simple stories of humanity, each one has its own potency, with themes of family, love, dedication and struggle. In one of the most emotionally wrought stories, a father sits down with his daughter and remembers her late mother and older brother, who both died of cancer within months of each other. To gather the stories, StoryCorps provides a facility, recording equipment and a facilitator, then waits for people to invite loved ones, friends, grandparents to sit down for a 40-minute session. A copy of the tape is filed in the Library of Congress, and parts have aired on NPR. As Isay says, I realized how many people among us feel completely invisible, believe their lives don't matter, and fear they'll someday be forgotten. Photos. (Nov. 13)