Dave Isay

Sounds boring! Those were my husband’s exact words when I pulled out this CD to listen to on a trip into Atlanta one day. Withing minutes with both had tears in our eyes and smiles on our faces (yes, both at the same time) and we were entranced. The stories shared on this CD and collected by StoryCorps are so moving, so HUMAN that the listener feels they are having a shared experience. It’s oral history about the rest of us. Not the rich and famous. Just you and me and everyone. We all show more have a story to tell, and we all deserve to be heard. show less

I am a fan of NPR’s StoryCorps Project. Simply put, “StoryCorps began with the idea that everyone has an important story to tell.”

In this book, editor Dave Isay compiles some of the more memorable stories recorded in the early years of the project. They are moving, horrific, tender, funny, beautifully simple, incredibly complex, inspiring and loving. The stories are divided into five major sections: Home & Family, Work & Dedication, Journeys, History & Struggle, and Fire & Water. In show more relating their memories, hopes, fears, joys, disappointments and dreams those who have recorded their stories are leaving a legacy for generations to come.

Frequently this type of collection is best read a little at a time. Certainly that was my intention when I opened it up. I was half-way through another book and thought I’d read a story or two of this one each day until I finished. But I was so mesmerized by these vivid yet simply told stories that I had to tear myself away. I finished it in two sessions. I want more. show less

From the founder of Storycorps, a commendable, non-profit organization offering the opportunity for individuals from all walks of life to record interviews about their lives, this slim volume is a poignant compilation of some of the most touching -- and heartbreaking -- love stories submitted over the years. I usually shy away from overly sentimental, inspirational reading, but this collection truly warmed my heart. Storycorps gives voice to ordinary people whose lives on the surface may not show more be extraordinary but whose personal stories, when given the opportunity to be told, are nevertheless fascinating. It reminded me of the ongoing "Humans of New York" project. show less

Documentarian Dave Isay founded StoryCorps, an organization that puts two people into a room and lets them interview each other on tape. The people at the microphones each get a copy of the session, and if they approve, another goes to an archive at the Library of Congress. Why? Because Isay believes that "everyone has an important story to tell."

The book to emerge from StoryCorps, Listening is an Act of Love, easily proves how right he is. Reading these interviews makes you wonder why show more anyone bothers to write fiction when fact is so compelling. A young man interviews the woman who gave him up for adoption years ago; a pair of New Orleans sewage workers describe watching the levees break, and trying to pump the water back out of the city; a steelworker describes the beauty of his work ("You see thousands and thousands of sparkles"); a man tells of the day he looked out his office window and watched a plane crash into the building where his wife worked...

Isay has big ambitions for StoryCorps: "I hope that someday the project will become part of the fabric of American life, accessible to anyone who wants to participate. I hope it grows into an enduring American institution that documents and defines the character of this nation." Me too. Read this. show less