A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project (Penguin Books for English

What could have been a gimmick for selling a book - creating booths where everyday folk could enter undisturbed and simply talk about experiences, life, pain, joy, sorrow and exhilaration to be later transcribed and edited into a book of 'interviews' - has in the hands of StoryCorps Project's Dave Isay become a verbal history of this country at a time when positive reinforcement is so desperately needed.

In a short but tender Introduction Isay sets the tenor: 'StoryCorps is built on a few basic ideas - that our stories - the stories of everyday people - are as interesting and important as the celebrity stories we're bombarded with by the media every day. That if we take time to listen, we'll find wisdom, wonder, and poetry in the lives and stories of people all around us. That we all want to know our lives have mattered and we won't be forgotten. That listening is an act of love.'

What follows are stories from quiet people with much to say, tales that may at first seem inconsequential until the reader realizes these are truths shared generously by a wide spectrum of people. Many issues are addressed and each seems to supplement the overall feeling that every voice in the country is equally important, that there are no greater or better stories collected here. This is as 'democratic' a collection as possible.

At the end of the book is an invitation to each reader to participate in StoryCorps, an open ended guide on how to select storytellers, subject questions to ask, and favorite StoryCorps questions. Reading this book leaves us with a feeling of warmth and awareness and human kindness. Well worth keeping at the bedside! Grady Harp, June 09

After you read this book, you will insist that your grandmother/favorite co-worker/best friend/weird uncle sit down with you and a tape recorder. Because Dave Isay's "Celebration of American Life From the StoryCorps Project" not only demonstrates that everyday Americans have compelling stories to tell, but that time's a-wastin'. Better ask your old teacher/college buddy/next-door neighbor about their proudest achievements, saddest moments, and who's been kindest to them.
Because if you follow the StoryCorps facilitators' example -- sitting in a booth and interviewing a friend or being interviewed yourself for 40 minutes, then emerging with audio copies for yourself and for an archive of Americans yakking about themselves -- you will emerge enriched, surprised, moved. Granted, Isay has selected about 50 of the most amusing and poignant of the 10,000 interviews that his interviewers have gathered in booths ranging from Grand Central Station to audio-equipped trucks that travel the country -- and which perhaps are coming soon to a town near you.
But these are stories with impact. A Korean woman bucks cultural tradition by insisting that her husband actually say things like "I'm sorry" and "I love you." An East Indian woman adjusts to her son's non-arranged American wedding. A birth mother tells her son, 28, that she regrets placing him for adoption. There are stories of back-breaking work on farms and in steel mills, of bounty hunters getting beaten up by meth dealers, of inmates bewailing the boredom of prison and promising not to relapse into drugs yet again. A family's only college grad pays tribute to her mother, who worked long hours cleaning offices after crossing the border illegally from Mexico. A young woman recounts how she helped her sister stop cutting herself. One of the Memphis sanitation workers recalls the last night of Martin Luther King Jr. Survivors of cancer, Katrina and 9/11 recall slow deaths and drownings and terrified scampers down high-rise stairwells. Remarkably, most of those in this last group are willing to forge on and are (mostly) survivor guilt-free. Each of them shared that booth with a friend, and they made sure to tell their stories.

StoryCorps is America's largest oral history project and was begun in 2003 by Dave Isay.

I became aware of this book while listening to the StoryCorps excerpts that air on NPR Friday mornings. One morning in particular I heard the story of the unofficial spokes people for StoryCorps, Annie and Danny.

Their love affair is told in the final pages of the book, the chapter entitled "The Story of StoryCorps." When my daughter and I heard their segment on NPR that morning on our way to the coffee shop, we were held mesmerized until it came to an end. It was one of those "transfixed in the parking lot" moments. We sat there, tears streaming down our faces until the end. We didn't go inside for our time of coffee and conversation until we could compose ourselves. That was the day I heard about and decided I had to have this book.

There are two versions, one which comes with a CD and one without. I made the mistake of saving a buck and going without. I recommend getting the CD. I suspect it makes the experience all the more enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, the book is fabulous and full of stories that fill your heart with light and love.

Every section of the book has heart-wrenching pieces. Stories that will define the American experience. The section entitled Fire and Water is particularly emotional as it deals with stories from the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001 and Hurricane Katrina.

I will recommend this book, and give it as gifts to my parents and others.

In this day and age of "reality" shows, celebrity drama, and media incompetence, it is good to read something that is human and honest.

The stories contained within this collection run the gamut of humorous and touching, bust out loud hilarious and emotionally devastating. It told through the mouths of our fellow citizens from their hearts, there are no disengenuity here, no falsehood, just what people know and think. The StoryCorp radio program is an incredibly touching experience, a none stop driveway moment. The incredible part is that people are so honest and imperturbable when going through the emotional roller coasters of their memories. I read the book prepared to be moved, but I was not prepared, and I could not be more prepared to be moved as much as this. I suspect that there are much more of the same locked away in the library of congress archives, I just hope that posterity will enjoy this gift from the past.

I first heard about the StoryCorps Project a few years ago and was immediately charmed by the idea of it. Two people important to one another enter a soundproof booth and spend 40 minutes as interviewer and interviewee. The interview is recorded. They are provided with suggested questions, but more often than not it seems that once the conversation gets rolling, it becomes just that - a conversation, and not so much an interview after all. Their stories unfold, and what happens is almost magical. At the end of the session, a high-quality copy of the recording is given to the participants, and another copy is sent to the Library of Congress. The whole point is to give a voice to everyone willing to sound it. A collection of some of these recordings has been compiled by Dave Isay in the amazing book Listening Is an Act of Love.

The stories shared here are conversations between husbands and wives, aunts and nephews, coworkers, friends. The stories are funny, shocking, heartwarming, and heartbreaking. I am haunted by the stories of those closely impacted by 9/11. I cried when I read a story about a daughter asking her father to remember his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. Some of the "how we met and fell in love" stories made me chuckle. The stories included in this book are from such different people in such different walks of life, yet so many common themes arise. Everyone wants to love and be loved, everyone makes mistakes, everyone hurts.

I borrowed this book from the library and read it in one sitting. It was so moving, so profound, that I want my own copy to keep. I want to hear these voices again and again, to remind myself that we all - all of us - have a story to tell.

I really like listening to Story Corp interviews on NPR. However, I'm not all that impressed by this collection. It's fine, but it's nothing outstanding. I just think that transcripts of interviews are not as touching to read as they are to hear. These aren't "essays," after all. They're merely people telling their respective stories, and the original medium for them doing so is a tape recorder, not a word processor. As such, the "translation" into print is not as effective (for me. at least). Also, I know it must have been tough to choose among all the great Story Corps interviews, but there were some I've heard that are so moving, and it would have been great to have those included, but they weren't.

The stories are short and poignant. It's an easy read but not easy to forget the intimate stories of the experiences of people in so many walks of life. I loved the diversity that the project seems to represent. I loved the everyday stories but I was most moved by the 9-11 stories. I want everyone I know to read it. What could be more valuable or meaningful to our children than our personal story?

I originally checked this book out at the library but decided to purchase a copy for myself because I find the work that they are doing to be profound. I will probably give copies of it to friends as gifts.

I want to find a way to record stories with some of my family members. What a tremendous way to record our history from the stories of everyday people.

StoryCorps is a nationwide project now connected with NPR where everyday citizens can record their stories. This book has taken a tiny selection of those interviews and printed excerpts from those interviews. This book gives the reader an interesting and sometimes insightful snapshot into people's lives and how they were shaped by the events and people around them. Some stories were more impactful than others but all were worth reading just to get a glimpse of how someone else has lived.

Caution: This book may inspire you to buy a digital recorder in order to record every one you know. And that's okay. Dave Isay and the rest of the Story Corps crew are not just recording people telling their individual stories, they are recording history en masse. They know the secret to an individual person's history: even though it may seem mundane to you (because you lived it) someone is going to find your story interesting and take something away from it.

This is the summer reading requirement for entering freshman at Middle Tennessee State University (alumni, 2010), and I couldn't imagine a better book to start the next 100 years at this institution.

Compiled by Dave Isay, Listening Is an Act of Love is perhaps one of the most profoundly touching books I've read in many years. As I read the stories I kept having to remind myself that these are true stories told by real people.

The most touching was the 911 story in the Trade Tower. Gripping and moving at the same time.

If you enjoy living history then Listening Is an Act of Love is the book for you.

Peace my friends.

This was a book of everyday stories, the little stories of people's lives. It was taken from the project created after 9/11 of traveling around the country and asking people to tell their stories.

I can't wait for book two.

As a regular listener to the Story Corp Project's radio broadcasts, I was already interested in the idea of ordinary people telling their stories and the wisdom they impart. This book reveals the full range of humanity, from tragedy to comedy, and it is all non-fiction. The sections are grouped thematically which gives a sense of flow over groups of interviews. The stories are short enough to read in those times of waiting for an appointment, or riding the bus. Each one touched me like an act of kindness. A good book to give as a gift!

A wonderful read and fascinating concept!!! I would recommend it to any adult reader....a little intense for young readers....excellent! I think it would have been great to record members off my family.

I love listening to Story Corps every Friday morning, so was very excited to see this book. Every story is so valuable and unique. It really reminds us how special and valuable every person is, and that we all have a story to tell.

Simple stories that bring out what we have in common rather than our differences. These stories could have been told on any continent on this earth. The stories were from people of different cultures, socio-economic conditions, religons etc... We all want the same things. We all have good times and bad times. I hope that anyone that reads this book realizes we are more alike than different.

I laughed, I cried, I understood better the perspective of people whose lives are very different from mine. This book reminded me of the goodness and wonderful diversity of Americans. I'm looking forward to many more StoryCorps books.

Such a simple idea - record two people who are connected in some way talking. The transcripts of the sessions are breathtaking; it is as if you are eavesdropping on an intimate conversation, each with a special message meant for only you to hear.