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The History of Sound
Soon to be a major movie starring Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor'Exquisitely crafted, deeply imagined, exhilaratingly diverse, The History of Sound places Ben Shattuck firmly among the very finest of our storytellers' - Geraldine Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of Horse
In twelve luminous stories set across three centuries, The History of Sound examines the unexpected ways the past returns to us and how love and loss are entwined and transformed over generations. In Ben Shattuck's ingenious collection, each story has a companion story, which contains a revelation about the previous, paired story. Mysteries and murders are revealed, history is refracted, and deep emotional connections are woven through characters and families.
The haunting title story recalls the journey of two men who meet around a piano in a smoky, dim bar, only to spend a summer walking the Maine woods collecting folk songs in the shadow of the First World War, forever marked by the odyssey. Decades later, in another story, a woman discovers the wax cylinders recorded that fateful summer while cleaning out her new house in Maine. Shattuck's inventive, exquisite stories transport readers from 1700s Nantucket to the contemporary woods of New Hampshire and beyond—into landscapes both enduring and unmistakably modern. Memories, artefacts, paintings, and journals resurface in surprising and poignant ways among evocative beaches, forests, and orchards, revealing the secrets, misunderstandings, and love that linger across centuries.
Written with breathtaking humanity and humor, The History of Sound is a love letter to New England, a radiant conversation between past and present, and a moving meditation on the abiding search for home.
In twelve luminous stories set across three centuries, The History of Sound examines the unexpected ways the past returns to us and how love and loss are entwined and transformed over generations. In Ben Shattuck's ingenious collection, each story has a companion story, which contains a revelation about the previous, paired story. Mysteries and murders are revealed, history is refracted, and deep emotional connections are woven through characters and families.
The haunting title story recalls the journey of two men who meet around a piano in a smoky, dim bar, only to spend a summer walking the Maine woods collecting folk songs in the shadow of the First World War, forever marked by the odyssey. Decades later, in another story, a woman discovers the wax cylinders recorded that fateful summer while cleaning out her new house in Maine. Shattuck's inventive, exquisite stories transport readers from 1700s Nantucket to the contemporary woods of New Hampshire and beyond—into landscapes both enduring and unmistakably modern. Memories, artefacts, paintings, and journals resurface in surprising and poignant ways among evocative beaches, forests, and orchards, revealing the secrets, misunderstandings, and love that linger across centuries.
Written with breathtaking humanity and humor, The History of Sound is a love letter to New England, a radiant conversation between past and present, and a moving meditation on the abiding search for home.
321 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 9, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,710 reviews
September 11, 2025
A perfect collection of short stories. I mean it: every single one of these stories was a hit for me. I was constantly blown away by how Shattuck was able to balance plot and character in under 30 pages, giving each story a sense of wholeness, completeness that left you satisfied by the end.
A good short story feels like it should raise more questions than it does provide answers, while still being able to get to the heart of the issue at hand in each tale. And Shattuck does that time and time again in this collection.
These are very New England focused stories. The sense of place, clearly personal to the author, comes through in rich, but never superfluous, description. It feels lived in and loved, and yet also imbued with a complexity that comes from an entangled history, one of colonial settlers and religious influence that seeps through time and space in the artifacts and memories left behind.
I think the central question Shattuck's exploring in this book is best encapsulated in the first story in the collection, the titular "The History of Sound" (soon to be adapted into a film starring Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor). We follow two young men in the WWI era as they spend a summer traveling across the country collecting folk songs on wax cylinders. Their bond is tested by their return to normal life, and their story is mostly forgotten by history, only remnants of which is left on the cylinders which are also lost in time. How do we remember history? How do we record it and what is lost or gained in the jotting down of mere moments in time?
Connection, across time and space, in places and artifacts, is another strong theme of the collection. Many of the stories overlap in some way, whether through a brief mention of an event that's later recounted in greater detail in another story, or through the appearance and reappearance of artifacts: paintings, taxidermied animals, derelict buildings from bygone eras, Bibles, museum exhibits. Shattuck seems fascinated with the remainders of history and how they speak across eras to paint a picture, not always a clear and honest snapshot of what really happened. It's in the telling or retelling that history is made.
I loved this book. It had heart—I felt immediately sucked into each characters story and eager to see their outcome, and how they may connect to future stories. I was surprised, delighted, saddened, intrigued and compelled; a truly comprehensive reading experience that never dwindled. It's rare to find a collection that is both cohesive and varied; the stories fit so nicely into each other and yet deliver contrasting and complementary experiences (in both tone, style, and format). I can't imagine this book not being one of my favorites of the year, and arguably a new favorite of all time!
A good short story feels like it should raise more questions than it does provide answers, while still being able to get to the heart of the issue at hand in each tale. And Shattuck does that time and time again in this collection.
These are very New England focused stories. The sense of place, clearly personal to the author, comes through in rich, but never superfluous, description. It feels lived in and loved, and yet also imbued with a complexity that comes from an entangled history, one of colonial settlers and religious influence that seeps through time and space in the artifacts and memories left behind.
I think the central question Shattuck's exploring in this book is best encapsulated in the first story in the collection, the titular "The History of Sound" (soon to be adapted into a film starring Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor). We follow two young men in the WWI era as they spend a summer traveling across the country collecting folk songs on wax cylinders. Their bond is tested by their return to normal life, and their story is mostly forgotten by history, only remnants of which is left on the cylinders which are also lost in time. How do we remember history? How do we record it and what is lost or gained in the jotting down of mere moments in time?
Connection, across time and space, in places and artifacts, is another strong theme of the collection. Many of the stories overlap in some way, whether through a brief mention of an event that's later recounted in greater detail in another story, or through the appearance and reappearance of artifacts: paintings, taxidermied animals, derelict buildings from bygone eras, Bibles, museum exhibits. Shattuck seems fascinated with the remainders of history and how they speak across eras to paint a picture, not always a clear and honest snapshot of what really happened. It's in the telling or retelling that history is made.
I loved this book. It had heart—I felt immediately sucked into each characters story and eager to see their outcome, and how they may connect to future stories. I was surprised, delighted, saddened, intrigued and compelled; a truly comprehensive reading experience that never dwindled. It's rare to find a collection that is both cohesive and varied; the stories fit so nicely into each other and yet deliver contrasting and complementary experiences (in both tone, style, and format). I can't imagine this book not being one of my favorites of the year, and arguably a new favorite of all time!
January 16, 2025
Reviewed in the January 2025 edition of Quick Lit on Modern Mrs Darcy:
I've been meaning to read this collection of linked short stories since it published in July. I'm so glad I happened to pick up the audio: I knew it had a full cast but didn't pay close attention to the narrators and was happily surprised to hear Ed Helms, Paul Mescal, Jenny Slate, and Nick Offerman reading me stories! Though they range from 1700s Nantucket to present day New England, these stories are tightly interconnected, and it made me gasp each time I realized anew how Shattuck played them off each other. I'm a structure nerd, so bear with me here: the dozen stories themselves are also styled as a hook-and-chain song or poem: they are presented as pairs, with the second story providing a new perspective or fresh insight on what was shared in the first. The first and last stories serve as corresponding bookends, with the bracketed ten stories also divided into complimentary pairings. This is the best short story collection I've read in ages and I suspect it could happily stand up to multiple rereadings.
I've been meaning to read this collection of linked short stories since it published in July. I'm so glad I happened to pick up the audio: I knew it had a full cast but didn't pay close attention to the narrators and was happily surprised to hear Ed Helms, Paul Mescal, Jenny Slate, and Nick Offerman reading me stories! Though they range from 1700s Nantucket to present day New England, these stories are tightly interconnected, and it made me gasp each time I realized anew how Shattuck played them off each other. I'm a structure nerd, so bear with me here: the dozen stories themselves are also styled as a hook-and-chain song or poem: they are presented as pairs, with the second story providing a new perspective or fresh insight on what was shared in the first. The first and last stories serve as corresponding bookends, with the bracketed ten stories also divided into complimentary pairings. This is the best short story collection I've read in ages and I suspect it could happily stand up to multiple rereadings.
October 25, 2024
Interconnected stories live in that middle ground between novels and short stories. I'm not a fan of short stories so I was curious where I’d come down on The History of Sound. Luckily for my taste, there is enough connection between the stories to keep me intrigued. And the majority of the stories felt fully fleshed out.
Despite the stories traversing across three centuries, Shattuck does a good job of anchoring the reader firmly in time and place for each one. I listened to this and it helped that there was a whole cast to narrate the stories, which also helped to differentiate them. I found them mostly engaging. Knowing there were interconnecting threads, I was keen to discover them all. I was particularly drawn to August in the Forest and The Journal of Thomas Thurber.
The writing is beautiful, often with a poetic feel. Shattuck explores the full range of emotions - regret, love, fear, hope.
I will warn those that tend to listen while performing other tasks, that probably won’t work with this book. It demands your full attention.
Despite the stories traversing across three centuries, Shattuck does a good job of anchoring the reader firmly in time and place for each one. I listened to this and it helped that there was a whole cast to narrate the stories, which also helped to differentiate them. I found them mostly engaging. Knowing there were interconnecting threads, I was keen to discover them all. I was particularly drawn to August in the Forest and The Journal of Thomas Thurber.
The writing is beautiful, often with a poetic feel. Shattuck explores the full range of emotions - regret, love, fear, hope.
I will warn those that tend to listen while performing other tasks, that probably won’t work with this book. It demands your full attention.
January 2, 2026
I’m not a fan of short story collections, but this is a superb book. Ben Shattuck has the potential to become one of the greats of the medium, though I still wish this were only a practice ground for a future novel.
April 30, 2025
Ahhh, stunning story collection. I finished it two nights ago and still can’t find the right words to describe my feelings. I’ll try:
A theme that was encapsulated throughout the entire collection is the power of objects, possessions, and property. One person’s trinket is another person’s life story. Certain items would pop up in future stories, and these mentions would either enhance or devalue the item in question. This illuminates how we can take such pride in the things we possess, but once our lives are over, the meaning attached to these possessions gets lost; but on the other hand, these objects may suddenly morph and take on new meaning by future inhabitants. A treasure to some, abandoned by some, a lifeline for others. Reading these stories is like digging up time capsules.
There’s a film being adapted for the first story in the collection (starring Josh O’Connor and Paul Mescal): two queer men during World War I, who roam the forestry landscape in search of folk songs. That story really sets the tone for the tenderness and beauty of the rest of the collection. There’s one other story in here that I could see huge potential for being made into a film: A bunch of men on a doomed expedition out in the woods in 1907, as the isolation slowly starts to make them descend into paranoia and madness.
Each story is paired with another, which gives the previous story even more depth and honesty. And tragedy big or small. What a haunting experience. Gorgeous words, soul-stirring imagery, piercing feelings.
A theme that was encapsulated throughout the entire collection is the power of objects, possessions, and property. One person’s trinket is another person’s life story. Certain items would pop up in future stories, and these mentions would either enhance or devalue the item in question. This illuminates how we can take such pride in the things we possess, but once our lives are over, the meaning attached to these possessions gets lost; but on the other hand, these objects may suddenly morph and take on new meaning by future inhabitants. A treasure to some, abandoned by some, a lifeline for others. Reading these stories is like digging up time capsules.
There’s a film being adapted for the first story in the collection (starring Josh O’Connor and Paul Mescal): two queer men during World War I, who roam the forestry landscape in search of folk songs. That story really sets the tone for the tenderness and beauty of the rest of the collection. There’s one other story in here that I could see huge potential for being made into a film: A bunch of men on a doomed expedition out in the woods in 1907, as the isolation slowly starts to make them descend into paranoia and madness.
Each story is paired with another, which gives the previous story even more depth and honesty. And tragedy big or small. What a haunting experience. Gorgeous words, soul-stirring imagery, piercing feelings.
January 21, 2025
Exceptional storytelling. Destined to be in my top ten for the year.
4.5 stars
4.5 stars
May 29, 2025
3,5*
Comecei a pensar na Terra como um cilindro de cera; o Sol era a agulha, pousada na Terra e a prolongar a música do dia – o som das pessoas a discutir, a cozinhar, a rir, a cantar, a gemer, a chorar, a namoriscar. E, por trás disso, um murmúrio silencioso de milhões de pessoas adormecidas a inundar a Terra como estática.
“História do Som” é uma obra bem pensada e bem articulada, mas, passada sobretudo na região da Nova Inglaterra, é uma produção tipicamente americana. É demasiado WASP, demasiado “clean”, demasiado “bougie” e, eu que até acho que 90% das vezes se arranja um equivalente em português, acrescento em estrangeiro que é um exemplo contemporâneo de “americana”, um termo que refere aquilo que é particular ao património cultural e histórico dos Estados Unidos.
Quando saiu de casa, no início desse ano, parara junto a uma macieira na orla da propriedade, cortara um galho e enrolara-o num pano molhado, na esperança de o guardar para fazer um excerto onde quer que fosse viver depois. Era a coisa mais semelhante a um crucifixo que queria levar consigo.
Embora estes contos interligados, que abordam o arrependimento e os caminhos que tomámos ou não quando a estrada se bifurca, revelem uma narrativa competente, esta começa a perder o ímpeto quanto mais avançamos no livro.
É indubitavelmente a estrutura de “História do Som” que lhe dá originalidade, pois, seguindo o molde da “hook-and-chain”, uma canção popular na Nova Inglaterra no século XVIII, a partir do segundo conto eles emparelham entre si e o último vai retomar a ideia do primeiro. Assim, temos, por exemplo, uma história do século XVII ligada a outra do século XXI, ou uma emissão de rádio do século XX completada com os acontecimentos que lhe deram origem.
“História do Som” foi entretanto adaptada ao cinema, o que me deixa intrigada face à dificuldade de juntar várias narrativas numa só.
Como hei de explicar? Este tipo de tristeza. Não era nostalgia. Não era luto. Era o facto evidente e súbito de que a minha vida parecia ter um centímetro a menos do que podia ter tido.
NOTA: Gostaria de saber qual é o critério que leva a tradutora a converter medidas de forma a que fiquem centímetros e metros sem fazer o mesmo à milhas. Que obrigação tem um português de saber quantos quilómetros são cem ou doze milhas?
Comecei a pensar na Terra como um cilindro de cera; o Sol era a agulha, pousada na Terra e a prolongar a música do dia – o som das pessoas a discutir, a cozinhar, a rir, a cantar, a gemer, a chorar, a namoriscar. E, por trás disso, um murmúrio silencioso de milhões de pessoas adormecidas a inundar a Terra como estática.
“História do Som” é uma obra bem pensada e bem articulada, mas, passada sobretudo na região da Nova Inglaterra, é uma produção tipicamente americana. É demasiado WASP, demasiado “clean”, demasiado “bougie” e, eu que até acho que 90% das vezes se arranja um equivalente em português, acrescento em estrangeiro que é um exemplo contemporâneo de “americana”, um termo que refere aquilo que é particular ao património cultural e histórico dos Estados Unidos.
Quando saiu de casa, no início desse ano, parara junto a uma macieira na orla da propriedade, cortara um galho e enrolara-o num pano molhado, na esperança de o guardar para fazer um excerto onde quer que fosse viver depois. Era a coisa mais semelhante a um crucifixo que queria levar consigo.
Embora estes contos interligados, que abordam o arrependimento e os caminhos que tomámos ou não quando a estrada se bifurca, revelem uma narrativa competente, esta começa a perder o ímpeto quanto mais avançamos no livro.
É indubitavelmente a estrutura de “História do Som” que lhe dá originalidade, pois, seguindo o molde da “hook-and-chain”, uma canção popular na Nova Inglaterra no século XVIII, a partir do segundo conto eles emparelham entre si e o último vai retomar a ideia do primeiro. Assim, temos, por exemplo, uma história do século XVII ligada a outra do século XXI, ou uma emissão de rádio do século XX completada com os acontecimentos que lhe deram origem.
“História do Som” foi entretanto adaptada ao cinema, o que me deixa intrigada face à dificuldade de juntar várias narrativas numa só.
Como hei de explicar? Este tipo de tristeza. Não era nostalgia. Não era luto. Era o facto evidente e súbito de que a minha vida parecia ter um centímetro a menos do que podia ter tido.
NOTA: Gostaria de saber qual é o critério que leva a tradutora a converter medidas de forma a que fiquem centímetros e metros sem fazer o mesmo à milhas. Que obrigação tem um português de saber quantos quilómetros são cem ou doze milhas?
July 1, 2025
I think I’ve invented a new insanity test. Hear me out. If you like this book and don’t like North Woods - you crazy. If you like both books - sane. If you like neither - sane. Uhh hello someone calling Dr. Freud aka Dr. Struthers apparently because that is some genius stuff I just came up with, folks.
I wasn’t even sure I could enjoy the book about 1/4 of the way through because it was giving such North Woods vibes, but then it zigged enough where North Woods zagged that it turned out to be an awesome read. I think whichever of the two I read first was destined to get the full five banger and the second 4 schmangs so that’s the reason for the 4* here.
I remember when I was a senior in high school I was in some advanced humanities class, and as usual had procrastinated on the final project that was like half of our grade. I’m talking procrastinateddddd. Like had to come clean to the teach and just be like umm yeah I just didn’t feel like doing it and he was a very nice man and said I could have an extension and just give my final presentation alone to him. What does this have to do with the book? Well, I think nothing really, but I feel like I wrote about how Fibonacci’s sequence coincided with some Renaissance something or other. And Fibonacci and his sequence reminded me of the A BB CC DD EE FF A pattern of stories in this book which I just thought was pretty dang clever.
If you’ve read any of my reviews you know I love an interconnected (mmm just typing the word gets me worked up) story and Mr. Shattuck interconnected in a way that felt fresh like the waterfalls under which a couple of our protagonists “got to know each other” under.
The stories themselves ran the gamut from the late 18th century to present day, from everyday folk music gathering to addiction. The author keeps you on your toes and through the pattern mentioned above always wanting to at least complete the interconnected couplets.
It was really well done and again, if you liked North Woods I highly recommend giving this a try. A word of advice would be to either read them back to back if you love the first book that much and want to stay in a similar world or spread them out so you don’t get burnt out.
This review felt whacky even to me so I hope my friends understand that sometimes you just gotta let a review rip from the hip and hope you hit the mark.
I wasn’t even sure I could enjoy the book about 1/4 of the way through because it was giving such North Woods vibes, but then it zigged enough where North Woods zagged that it turned out to be an awesome read. I think whichever of the two I read first was destined to get the full five banger and the second 4 schmangs so that’s the reason for the 4* here.
I remember when I was a senior in high school I was in some advanced humanities class, and as usual had procrastinated on the final project that was like half of our grade. I’m talking procrastinateddddd. Like had to come clean to the teach and just be like umm yeah I just didn’t feel like doing it and he was a very nice man and said I could have an extension and just give my final presentation alone to him. What does this have to do with the book? Well, I think nothing really, but I feel like I wrote about how Fibonacci’s sequence coincided with some Renaissance something or other. And Fibonacci and his sequence reminded me of the A BB CC DD EE FF A pattern of stories in this book which I just thought was pretty dang clever.
If you’ve read any of my reviews you know I love an interconnected (mmm just typing the word gets me worked up) story and Mr. Shattuck interconnected in a way that felt fresh like the waterfalls under which a couple of our protagonists “got to know each other” under.
The stories themselves ran the gamut from the late 18th century to present day, from everyday folk music gathering to addiction. The author keeps you on your toes and through the pattern mentioned above always wanting to at least complete the interconnected couplets.
It was really well done and again, if you liked North Woods I highly recommend giving this a try. A word of advice would be to either read them back to back if you love the first book that much and want to stay in a similar world or spread them out so you don’t get burnt out.
This review felt whacky even to me so I hope my friends understand that sometimes you just gotta let a review rip from the hip and hope you hit the mark.
October 31, 2021
“how to put it? this type of sadness. not nostalgia. not grief. just the obvious and sudden fact that my life looked an inch shorter than it could have been. that the best year really had come when i was twenty” are simply the most devastating lines to read when you’re twenty (or nineteen? or ninety? or anywhere in between, i’m just guessing for it’s not like you ever know).
June 21, 2024
I loved these stories. I loved their emotional intelligence, and how successive stories reflected illuminating light on the previous stories. I loved the beauty of the sentences and the book’s inventiveness, and the unflinching study of the best and worst of humanity. I savoured this book, one story at a time. These are stories that invite us to reread them, knowing we will gain deeper appreciation with each rereading.
January 8, 2025
It's so nice to kick off 2025 with a 5 star read!
This is a book of short stories, set in New England, that are set in a variety of time periods from the 1700's to the present.
There are definitely links between the stories and the themes. All are beautifully written, and this collection really reminded me of the writing of one of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Strout. It's all about the characters, and the realistic portrayal of people's strengths and foibles. It is more of a sad book though, so maybe not for some readers. It definitely elucidates some of the harder aspects of life.
The first and last story tie together in a special way, and I found myself re-reading chapter one after finishing the book. I definitely think the whole book would hold up well on a re-read.
Moving, emotional, realistic, literary - - all the things I love in a book!
This is a book of short stories, set in New England, that are set in a variety of time periods from the 1700's to the present.
There are definitely links between the stories and the themes. All are beautifully written, and this collection really reminded me of the writing of one of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Strout. It's all about the characters, and the realistic portrayal of people's strengths and foibles. It is more of a sad book though, so maybe not for some readers. It definitely elucidates some of the harder aspects of life.
The first and last story tie together in a special way, and I found myself re-reading chapter one after finishing the book. I definitely think the whole book would hold up well on a re-read.
Moving, emotional, realistic, literary - - all the things I love in a book!
January 18, 2025
In this collection, each story is part of a pair, so a detail of one will be reflected or elaborated upon in another. (This is mentioned in the blurb, but I’d forgotten about it when I started reading, so it was only as I progressed through the stories and spotted the links that I became properly aware of it.) It’s a sort of call-and-response structure that makes the book more satisfying as a whole, although at the same time, almost every story can stand on its own.
The stories are set across three centuries in various parts of New England. There are a lot of windswept coasts and woodstoves, quaint little museums and mysterious forests. These are quiet, compassionate stories – it’s not a showy book. The stories are gentle but the writing is sharp, a good combination. The precise way characters’ actions are described, the naturalistic dialogue, reminded me so much of Brandon Taylor; I’ve often wondered what Taylor’s fiction would be like if his characters had a wider range of ages and experiences, and here perhaps is the answer. If you enjoyed the style of The Late Americans but found the focus too narrow, read this.
I loved the pairing of ‘Radiolab: “Singularities”’, a transcript of a podcast episode about a mysterious photograph, and ‘The Auk’, which details how the photograph came to be. Similarly satisfying is the combination of ‘Edwin Chase of Nantucket’, which has a boy struggling to understand his mother’s relationship with an enigmatic visitor who gifts her a painting, and ‘The Silver Clip’ (possibly my favourite?), where the painting resurfaces as part of a new graduate’s unusual friendship with a much older widow. Two of the most effective stories are ‘The Children of New Eden’, about a young couple drawn into a religious cult, and ‘Graft’, in which a woman thinks she may have glimpsed the child she gave up – these stories are not a pair, but they have similar emotional heft and tension. And of course I have to mention the first story, ‘The History of Sound’, which is an excellent opener, instantly engaging, impossible to resist.
Occasionally something doesn’t work: I thought I was supposed to dislike the protagonist of ‘August in the Forest’, but if so, the ending is a shitty outcome for Elizabeth in a way that chafes against the book’s general mood. I also didn’t buy the narrative voice of its partner story, ‘The Journal of Thomas Thurber’, which rings false for its supposed narrator and time period. For the most part though, this works wonderfully, really self-assured writing, a calm confidence to it all, a spellbinding portrait of ordinary lives and the reverberations of small, seemingly inconsequential incidents and choices through history.
The stories are set across three centuries in various parts of New England. There are a lot of windswept coasts and woodstoves, quaint little museums and mysterious forests. These are quiet, compassionate stories – it’s not a showy book. The stories are gentle but the writing is sharp, a good combination. The precise way characters’ actions are described, the naturalistic dialogue, reminded me so much of Brandon Taylor; I’ve often wondered what Taylor’s fiction would be like if his characters had a wider range of ages and experiences, and here perhaps is the answer. If you enjoyed the style of The Late Americans but found the focus too narrow, read this.
I loved the pairing of ‘Radiolab: “Singularities”’, a transcript of a podcast episode about a mysterious photograph, and ‘The Auk’, which details how the photograph came to be. Similarly satisfying is the combination of ‘Edwin Chase of Nantucket’, which has a boy struggling to understand his mother’s relationship with an enigmatic visitor who gifts her a painting, and ‘The Silver Clip’ (possibly my favourite?), where the painting resurfaces as part of a new graduate’s unusual friendship with a much older widow. Two of the most effective stories are ‘The Children of New Eden’, about a young couple drawn into a religious cult, and ‘Graft’, in which a woman thinks she may have glimpsed the child she gave up – these stories are not a pair, but they have similar emotional heft and tension. And of course I have to mention the first story, ‘The History of Sound’, which is an excellent opener, instantly engaging, impossible to resist.
Occasionally something doesn’t work: I thought I was supposed to dislike the protagonist of ‘August in the Forest’, but if so, the ending is a shitty outcome for Elizabeth in a way that chafes against the book’s general mood. I also didn’t buy the narrative voice of its partner story, ‘The Journal of Thomas Thurber’, which rings false for its supposed narrator and time period. For the most part though, this works wonderfully, really self-assured writing, a calm confidence to it all, a spellbinding portrait of ordinary lives and the reverberations of small, seemingly inconsequential incidents and choices through history.
July 26, 2024
This collection of often subtly interconnected stories is set in the New England area over three centuries, 1700 to contemporary times. Taking natural settings as their primary features, many are set by the ocean on Nantucket, on Cape Cod, by the sea in Maine, in the Canadian Maritimes, others in the deep forests of Maine or small rural towns. The titular story is of two young men who travel through rural Maine shortly after the First World War finding and recording local people who sing handed down folk music. These are recorded on wax cylinders which are discovered in a later story.
There are stories of families forming or breaking apart, of friendship of anger, even of hatred. There is also the beauty of the land. The connections that the author weaves between stories is done quietly, often beautifully. I will look for more from him.
Recommended for story readers.
Thanks to Viking/Penguin Group, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book.
There are stories of families forming or breaking apart, of friendship of anger, even of hatred. There is also the beauty of the land. The connections that the author weaves between stories is done quietly, often beautifully. I will look for more from him.
Recommended for story readers.
Thanks to Viking/Penguin Group, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book.
November 2, 2021
no HOW AM I EXPECTED TO COME OUT OF A MOVIE ADAPTATION OF THIS UNSCATHED??
w josh oconnor and paul mescal no less someone sedate me
w josh oconnor and paul mescal no less someone sedate me
May 31, 2025
Hook-and-chain; a poem or song in which the first and last lines rhyme and contains rhyming couplets within. ‘The History of Sound’ is structured in this way and it works perfectly. Every story has a companion story that completes the themes that Shattuck is exploring. The concept of time and our interconnectedness has always fascinated me, and that is what appeals to me the most about these stories. I’m somewhat of a history nut too, so the time periods in which many of these stories are set is an added bonus. There’s not a clunker in the bunch, although the titular story is actually my least favorite. Personal favorites are ‘Edwin Chase of Nantucket’, ‘Tundra Swan’, ‘August in the Forest’… actually now that I am going through the exercise I realize it’s too hard to pick out favorites. It’s all great stuff and there is something here for everyone. Relatable characters in a quietly moving type of way. I do not read a ton of short stories but this ranks right at the very top for me. High four stars. Maybe five after I let it stew for a little bit.
December 29, 2024
Such a quietly self-assured, deeply humane book about ordinary people living ordinary lives, although their circumstances can be quite dramatic, in big and small ways. So pretty much like.....us. I grew up in New England and for me, the author evokes the New England landscape and sensibility perfectly. It wasn't surprising to learn that he owns and runs the oldest general store in America, built in 1793 - he is steeped in the region and the authenticity shows. The connections between the stories are clear but lightly done so that the conceit doesn't overshadow the characters or the stories. I see that the book is being made into a movie - from the stills on IMDB it looks like the focus is on the first story. I hope the director can find and evoke the authenticity of the book, whether the film covers all the stories or just the first. I would never have found this book without the Tournament of Books shortlist. Every year there's at least one hidden gem book.
October 29, 2021
oh i will literally not survive this story as a film
Rep: gay mcs
Rep: gay mcs
December 25, 2024
Linked stories set in New England in the last 300 or so years, beautifully written and each containing wisdom about the human heart and the natural world. I’m not a fan of short stories, but I read this for the 2025 Tournament of Books, and I’m grateful to the tournament for putting it on my radar.
December 4, 2024
The dozen stories of Shattuck’s fiction debut form a “hook-and-chain” structure of five couplets, bookended by a first and last story that are related to each other. The links are satisfyingly overt: A pair might take place in the same house in different centuries, or the second will fill in the history of the characters from the first. In “Edwin Chase of Nantucket,” the eponymous figure recognizes his bereaved mother’s loneliness and does her a kindness. “Silver Clip,” which follows, is separated by 200 years, but its accounts of a young painter living in his ancestral island home reprises the motifs of grief, compassion and memory. “Graft,” about a woman spurned in the 1880s, and “Tundra Swan,” in which a man concocts a swindle to pay for his son’s rehab in the present day, are connected by a Cape Cod orchard. Artefacts and documents also play important roles: a journal accounts for a mysterious mass death, a radio transcript and a photograph explain a well-meaning con, and an excerpt from a history textbook follows up on the story of the religious cult in “The Children of New Eden.”
My favourite individual story was “August in the Forest,” about a poet whose artist’s fellowship isn’t all it cracked up to be – the primitive cabin being no match for a New Hampshire winter. His relationships with a hospital doctor, Chloe, and his childhood best friend, Elizabeth, seem entirely separate until Elizabeth returns from Laos and both women descend on him at the cabin. Their dialogues are funny and brilliantly awkward (“Sorry not all of us are quietly chiseling toward the beating heart of the human experience, August. One iamb at a time”) and it’s fascinating to watch how, years later, August turns life into prose. But the crowning achievement is the opening title story and its counterpart, “Origin Stories,” about folk music recordings made by two university friends during the First World War – and the afterlife of both the songs and the men.
From the start I was reminded strongly of North Woods by Daniel Mason, and particular sequences recall Shoot the Horses First by Leah Angstman and An Account of the Decline of the Great Auk, According to One Who Saw It by Jessie Greengrass. It’s a slight shame for Shattuck that what he was doing here didn’t seem as original to me because of my familiarity with these predecessors. Yet, to my surprise, I found that The History of Sound was more consistent than any of those. With the exception of a few phrases from “Graft” (“living room,” “had sex” and “boring” don’t strike me as 1880s lingo), all of the stories are historically convincing, and the very human themes of lust, parenthood, sorrow and frustrated ambition resonate across centuries and state lines. Really beautiful.
[Some you-couldn’t-make-it-up trivia about Shattuck: he’s married to Jenny Slate (author of Little Weirds et al., as well as an actress known to me as Mona Lisa from Parks and Recreation); and he runs the oldest general store in America, built in 1793.]
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
My favourite individual story was “August in the Forest,” about a poet whose artist’s fellowship isn’t all it cracked up to be – the primitive cabin being no match for a New Hampshire winter. His relationships with a hospital doctor, Chloe, and his childhood best friend, Elizabeth, seem entirely separate until Elizabeth returns from Laos and both women descend on him at the cabin. Their dialogues are funny and brilliantly awkward (“Sorry not all of us are quietly chiseling toward the beating heart of the human experience, August. One iamb at a time”) and it’s fascinating to watch how, years later, August turns life into prose. But the crowning achievement is the opening title story and its counterpart, “Origin Stories,” about folk music recordings made by two university friends during the First World War – and the afterlife of both the songs and the men.
From the start I was reminded strongly of North Woods by Daniel Mason, and particular sequences recall Shoot the Horses First by Leah Angstman and An Account of the Decline of the Great Auk, According to One Who Saw It by Jessie Greengrass. It’s a slight shame for Shattuck that what he was doing here didn’t seem as original to me because of my familiarity with these predecessors. Yet, to my surprise, I found that The History of Sound was more consistent than any of those. With the exception of a few phrases from “Graft” (“living room,” “had sex” and “boring” don’t strike me as 1880s lingo), all of the stories are historically convincing, and the very human themes of lust, parenthood, sorrow and frustrated ambition resonate across centuries and state lines. Really beautiful.
[Some you-couldn’t-make-it-up trivia about Shattuck: he’s married to Jenny Slate (author of Little Weirds et al., as well as an actress known to me as Mona Lisa from Parks and Recreation); and he runs the oldest general store in America, built in 1793.]
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
January 13, 2025
Perfection. Old fashioned story telling at its finest. I don’t always enjoy short stories, but these are exceptional. I am so glad that the book club I belong to voted for the collection. The audiobook is a first class production.
October 21, 2025
12 stories, mostly set in New England, some were memorable, others hard to finish, and still more others that I wanted to immediately discuss with someone afterwards.
I don't typically enjoy short story collections, but I'm always intrigued by the "interconnected" ones - I love when they tie together. This hit some of the itch, but left me scratching my head a bit. I fear that this might've just flown way over my head.
The two stories that I still keep thinking about are the two with the Auk. I listened to Radiolab back in the day, and appreciated this throwback (for me), and then the next story immediately flipped my perspective.
I don't typically enjoy short story collections, but I'm always intrigued by the "interconnected" ones - I love when they tie together. This hit some of the itch, but left me scratching my head a bit. I fear that this might've just flown way over my head.
The two stories that I still keep thinking about are the two with the Auk. I listened to Radiolab back in the day, and appreciated this throwback (for me), and then the next story immediately flipped my perspective.
August 8, 2025
Blown away by this one! Wow! Read if you love short stories reminiscent of Salinger or Chekhov. One of my faves from 2025 for sure!
July 4, 2025
Short story collections can be hit and miss, and often leave me unsatisfied and wanting more before being forced to move on. Not this one. Maybe it was the common denominator of the location, bringing with it a familiarity even as we move on to a new focus and cast of characters. Maybe it was finding subtle linkages as we moved from story to story. Maybe it was simply the repeatedly comforting voice that lulled one into a sense of wonder and curiosity as new literary vistas opened before us.
Regardless, this was an enjoyable and diverse read.
Regardless, this was an enjoyable and diverse read.
August 16, 2024
This was SO excellent. Dare I say… my favorite of the YEAR!! I loved every single moment of reading this book, except for maybe the moment when I read the singular scary story in the whole collection at midnight while home alone…. I did almost barf. But that’s my problem not yours!! Jenny Slate really was on to something when she married this man. And he looks like my brother-in-law... (shoutout Fionn). I was very fortunate to go to the book release event on the South Coast last month and got to hear Ben speak on his process and ideas and his love for his darling 4 year old daughter (whom Catherine thought was 7). One of his wisdom nuggets was that recording history is about subtraction, and that negative space is what forms our life narratives. Very excited to see the movie when it comes out… a movie starring Paul Mescal written by Jenny Slate’s husband set in New England!? It was made for me. You better read it!!!!!!!
January 28, 2025
I picked up this book of interconnected short stories for a couple of reasons, one being its on the 2025 Tournament of Books ( up against my beloved Orbital, a match-up to look forward to) and second it being a book club read.
Shockingly maybe, I didn't really enjoy it. I am very much an anomaly in this as almost everyone else is raving about it. The closest book I can think to compare it with is North Woods by Daniel Mason. Thankfully no ghosts appear in this book, but rather this is a collection of short stories linked by objects ( rather than a house in North Woods ). I will agree this is a graceful and carefully constructed work, full of missed relationship opportunities and longing. Its has beautiful descriptions of New England and its history but it just left me indifferent.
Hard to say if it was just wrong book, wrong time or my impatience with historical fiction and short stories generally. If this is your thing then maybe it's worth investigating.
Shockingly maybe, I didn't really enjoy it. I am very much an anomaly in this as almost everyone else is raving about it. The closest book I can think to compare it with is North Woods by Daniel Mason. Thankfully no ghosts appear in this book, but rather this is a collection of short stories linked by objects ( rather than a house in North Woods ). I will agree this is a graceful and carefully constructed work, full of missed relationship opportunities and longing. Its has beautiful descriptions of New England and its history but it just left me indifferent.
Hard to say if it was just wrong book, wrong time or my impatience with historical fiction and short stories generally. If this is your thing then maybe it's worth investigating.
July 14, 2025
Excellent short stories that are each complete in themselves, but made more special by being tied together in some small, insignificant ways.
June 30, 2025
“The history of sound, lost daily. I’ve started to think of Earth as a wax cylinder; the sun the needle, laid on the land and drawing out the day’s music – the sound of people arguing, cooking, laughing, singing, moaning, crying, flirting. And behind that, a silent sweep of millions of sleeping people washing across Earth like static.”.
OMG! This masterpiece has been sitting on my TBR shelf for a year, and I can’t believe it’s taken me that long to pick it up. It’s simply superb – breathtaking, shattering, radiant, exhilarating. It makes me want to yell from the rooftops, “Stop what you’re doing! You must read this book!”
The characters in these 12 interlinked stories, spanning three centuries, are searching for love, meaning and connection. Six of the stories are puzzles of sorts that are solved by their companion pieces. All are exquisite.
For example, the titular story holds these words: “My grandfather once said that happiness isn’t a story.” And so it’s not. A young man – barely out of his teens -- meets a folk music expert whom he will love for all his life in the early 20th century. They spend an enchanted summer collecting folk songs, “filled with the voices of thousands who’ve sung and changed them” – the stories of people’s lives. We know from the first paragraph that a stranger will appear at the end of his life with phonograph cylinders containing old recordings of the sounds that were captured that magical summer. That story doesn’t reach full circle until we read that story, Origin Stories, set many decades later.
In another, August in the Forest, a man with writer’s block must confront feelings for a woman he regarded as a best friend when together, they stumble across a mystery of a logging crew that met with a sudden death. In a later story, we discover what really happened through a record of a crew whose expedition becomes increasingly sinister.
In another pairing, a photograph of a Great Auk – long thought extinct – is uncovered. The photographer, now deceased, never capitalized on what would have surely led to fame and fortune. Why? In a following story, we learn the truth behind the day the photograph was taken, in a story that is as touching as it is well-crafted.
Every single story is a gem. Each one contains connections from past to present – memories, feelings, journals, paintings, meditations, and evocations. History, Ben Shattuck suggests, is fluid and always there to inform and regenerate us. The sounds of the past still converse with us and often direct us in our search for redemption and closure. This is a marvelous book. Do yourself a favor and get it.
OMG! This masterpiece has been sitting on my TBR shelf for a year, and I can’t believe it’s taken me that long to pick it up. It’s simply superb – breathtaking, shattering, radiant, exhilarating. It makes me want to yell from the rooftops, “Stop what you’re doing! You must read this book!”
The characters in these 12 interlinked stories, spanning three centuries, are searching for love, meaning and connection. Six of the stories are puzzles of sorts that are solved by their companion pieces. All are exquisite.
For example, the titular story holds these words: “My grandfather once said that happiness isn’t a story.” And so it’s not. A young man – barely out of his teens -- meets a folk music expert whom he will love for all his life in the early 20th century. They spend an enchanted summer collecting folk songs, “filled with the voices of thousands who’ve sung and changed them” – the stories of people’s lives. We know from the first paragraph that a stranger will appear at the end of his life with phonograph cylinders containing old recordings of the sounds that were captured that magical summer. That story doesn’t reach full circle until we read that story, Origin Stories, set many decades later.
In another, August in the Forest, a man with writer’s block must confront feelings for a woman he regarded as a best friend when together, they stumble across a mystery of a logging crew that met with a sudden death. In a later story, we discover what really happened through a record of a crew whose expedition becomes increasingly sinister.
In another pairing, a photograph of a Great Auk – long thought extinct – is uncovered. The photographer, now deceased, never capitalized on what would have surely led to fame and fortune. Why? In a following story, we learn the truth behind the day the photograph was taken, in a story that is as touching as it is well-crafted.
Every single story is a gem. Each one contains connections from past to present – memories, feelings, journals, paintings, meditations, and evocations. History, Ben Shattuck suggests, is fluid and always there to inform and regenerate us. The sounds of the past still converse with us and often direct us in our search for redemption and closure. This is a marvelous book. Do yourself a favor and get it.
January 19, 2025
This was a great short story collection and ode to New England, the land and people. The stories are coupled based on an old song structure, which the author explains in the beginning of the book. This was an interesting structure and it was fun and engaging to find the connections as you read the second of the two stories.
July 4, 2025
A million stars.
More thoughts soon
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“history is personal, even when it isn’t.”
From: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 by Ben Shattuck
I realized that I never posted my thoughts on one of my favorite reads of the year. This book came as a total surprise. It was one of @Librofm’s influencer picks a few months ago and on a whim I started listening to it. Such a great choice. These short stories are everything. I could not stop listening and I have thought about them a lot in the months that followed.
This set of paired stories is so well written, so well structured. They sucked me in from the first few sentences, took me along for the ride and left me completely satisfied by the end, but also wanting more. If that makes sense. The characters are vivid and memorable, their relationships so intimitely described. The descriptions of the scenery are lush without being overdone and made me feel like I could see it, like I was there.
One big theme is the way objects or artifacts tell stories over time. Objects find their way into different stories and they come to mean different things. Showing how history is made by the one telling it.
Shattuck has a way of writing about seemingly ordinary things or happenings in life and still make you utterly curious about what is going to happen and then delivers on that curiosity in a very impressive and satisfying way.
If you haven’t read this yet, please do. I also highly recommend listening to the audiobook, which is brilliantly narrated by a big cast, including Paul Mescal. Thanks so much to @librofm and @prhaudio for this advanced listening copy and now I need a physical copy to re-read this new favorite and to show on my shelves.
📚 📖💙
More thoughts soon
———————————————————————-
“history is personal, even when it isn’t.”
From: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 by Ben Shattuck
I realized that I never posted my thoughts on one of my favorite reads of the year. This book came as a total surprise. It was one of @Librofm’s influencer picks a few months ago and on a whim I started listening to it. Such a great choice. These short stories are everything. I could not stop listening and I have thought about them a lot in the months that followed.
This set of paired stories is so well written, so well structured. They sucked me in from the first few sentences, took me along for the ride and left me completely satisfied by the end, but also wanting more. If that makes sense. The characters are vivid and memorable, their relationships so intimitely described. The descriptions of the scenery are lush without being overdone and made me feel like I could see it, like I was there.
One big theme is the way objects or artifacts tell stories over time. Objects find their way into different stories and they come to mean different things. Showing how history is made by the one telling it.
Shattuck has a way of writing about seemingly ordinary things or happenings in life and still make you utterly curious about what is going to happen and then delivers on that curiosity in a very impressive and satisfying way.
If you haven’t read this yet, please do. I also highly recommend listening to the audiobook, which is brilliantly narrated by a big cast, including Paul Mescal. Thanks so much to @librofm and @prhaudio for this advanced listening copy and now I need a physical copy to re-read this new favorite and to show on my shelves.
📚 📖💙
May 4, 2025
12 interconnected short-stories set in New England across centuries. It’s not organized chronically. The links between stories are varied and can be subtle. The artifact in the first story, The History of Sound, is rediscovered by a character in Origin Stories. The mystery in August in the Forest is solved in The Journal of Thomas Thurber. The painting in Edwin Chase of Nantucket re-appears in The Silver Clip. The whereabouts of people in The Children of New Eden is answered in Introduction to The Dietzens: Searching for Eternity in the North American Wilderness.
The same apple tree appears in Graft, then in Tundra Swan. These two stories happen to be my favorites.
The same apple tree appears in Graft, then in Tundra Swan. These two stories happen to be my favorites.
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