Listening Is an Act of Love

You know when you read a really great book and want to stop people on the street to tell them about it? This is that book.

Listening Is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the Storycorps Project is a phenomenal collection of stories gathered by the ingenius people at Storycorps. Storycorps sets up booths around the country and people make appointments to interview friends and loved ones about important moments in their lives. At the end of the interview, two cds are made. One goes to the participants, the other goes in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

David Isay, the creator (and editor of this book), takes the philosophy that history should be told from the bottom up (the lives of everyday people) instead of the top down (celebrities, politicians, etc.). I completely agree and it makes for amazing reading. It's like what it would be like if you could actually talk to all the people Howard Zinn references in A People's History of the United States.

Sometimes I feel like there's a lot to be down about in America these days. Want a few examples?
1. parking lots
2. housing developments with identical houses 3 feet apart from each other
3. million dollar condos blocking free views
4. consumption
5. library cutbacks

And I get really frustrated in general with people because if we could all decide to make small changes, we could change the world. I get frustrated with the apathy (I'm guilty too, I know!).

Reading the stories in Listening is An Act of Love reminded me of Anne Frank's profound quote, "Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart." And that's a wonderful piece of positive thinking.

I was especially moved by the stories in the last section of the book, "Fire and Water," about September 11th and Hurricane Katrina. I sat in a Starbucks (where you can buy the cd I believe) and cried through the last several pages. When I got back to work I quickly read the afterward and got that funny feeling in my stomach that I only get from holding back emotion.

And if a book can do all that...!

Recommendation: If you cry easily, grab a tissue. This book is full of touching stories to make you consider the elements of our everyday lives.

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