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Chattering: Stories
An extraordinary debut collection of stories, which reveal how the world looks when you're young, hip, wild, and deaf Louise Stern's stories are peopled with brave young girls, out to party, travel the world, go a little bit wild. The one thing that marks them out from their peers is that they have grown up deaf. They communicate with the outside world via a complicated mixture of sign language, lip–reading, note–scribbling, guesswork, and instinct. Yet they are full of daring, ready for adventures that take them into unfamiliar places and strange, cockeyed relationships with people whose actions they observe, but never wholly understand. It is this sense of dislocation from common experience that marks out Louise Stern's original voice. She is fully engaged in the world we recognize and share, but the way she observes it sets her apart. Her eyes are keen; she notices things we would never see. She is quick to judge, wary, suspicious, and vulnerable. She experiences the world like a voyeur, always watching, yet able to retreat to an interior silence that nobody from the outside can ever reach.
208 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2010
5 people are currently reading
295 people want to read
About the author
Louise Stern
8 books9 followersLouise Stern (born 1978) is an American writer and artist, and works around ideas of language, communication and isolation.
Stern grew up in an exclusively deaf community and is fourth-generation deaf on her father's side, and third-generation deaf on her mother's side. She attended California School for the Deaf, Fremont.
Stern studied at Gallaudet University, where she was the only student studying art. She moved to the United Kingdom in 2002 where she gained an MA from Sotheby's Institute of Art. She works as an assistant to artist Sam Taylor-Wood.
Her own artwork has been exhibited in galleries in Geneva, Barcelona, Madrid, London and Port Eliot. She is the founder and publisher of Maurice, a contemporary art magazine for children.
Her first collection of short stories, Chattering, was published by Granta in 2011. Alan Warner called it "an amazing debut: vibrantly perceptive, gentle, funny and profound".
Her first novel, Ismael and His Sisters, was written in, and is set in, a deaf village in the Yucatán Peninsula, where Stern communicated in Mayan Sign Language. There will be an accompanying book of photographs to it.
She has also written plays, including The Ugly Birds and The Interpreter, which was performed at the Bush Theatre. Stern was commissioned to write stories for BBC Radio 4 in 2012 and 2013.
Stern grew up in an exclusively deaf community and is fourth-generation deaf on her father's side, and third-generation deaf on her mother's side. She attended California School for the Deaf, Fremont.
Stern studied at Gallaudet University, where she was the only student studying art. She moved to the United Kingdom in 2002 where she gained an MA from Sotheby's Institute of Art. She works as an assistant to artist Sam Taylor-Wood.
Her own artwork has been exhibited in galleries in Geneva, Barcelona, Madrid, London and Port Eliot. She is the founder and publisher of Maurice, a contemporary art magazine for children.
Her first collection of short stories, Chattering, was published by Granta in 2011. Alan Warner called it "an amazing debut: vibrantly perceptive, gentle, funny and profound".
Her first novel, Ismael and His Sisters, was written in, and is set in, a deaf village in the Yucatán Peninsula, where Stern communicated in Mayan Sign Language. There will be an accompanying book of photographs to it.
She has also written plays, including The Ugly Birds and The Interpreter, which was performed at the Bush Theatre. Stern was commissioned to write stories for BBC Radio 4 in 2012 and 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 4, 2021
The bit of this book that most sticks in my mind comes from the story 'Boat'. The deaf protagonist - deafness being one of the few traits that unite each protagonist of this globetrotting set of short stories - takes a room in a houseboat with a mercurial male owner. During a semi-frequent bout of drunken loquaciousness, the man tells her that they're alike and that she understands him. This sparks indignant rage in the protagonist. Not only had she not said much during their interaction, the man had not asked her anything about her thoughts and feelings. Chattering tells stories of women who live in these silent spaces.
I read this having just watched 'Sound of Metal' - a film about a drummer who loses his hearing which features a community of deaf recovering addicts - and 'Feeling Through' - a short that features the first deaf and blind actor in film history. Art like this can provide an interesting perspective on a community that isn't often shown in popular culture. Perhaps Chattering's greatest achievement is that, with its eclectic collection of characters and stories, Louise Stern has displayed the deaf community, not as a monolith, but as a varied and diverse group of individuals.
I read this having just watched 'Sound of Metal' - a film about a drummer who loses his hearing which features a community of deaf recovering addicts - and 'Feeling Through' - a short that features the first deaf and blind actor in film history. Art like this can provide an interesting perspective on a community that isn't often shown in popular culture. Perhaps Chattering's greatest achievement is that, with its eclectic collection of characters and stories, Louise Stern has displayed the deaf community, not as a monolith, but as a varied and diverse group of individuals.
January 16, 2022
I came across this book in my university library and thought I’d give it a read. This is a vignette book with chapters exploring various D/deaf individual’s stories from a scenario or timeline standpoint.
The protagonists are quite static and not very developed which forces you to focus on the situation at hand and not necessary who the character is.
I really enjoyed this book, it was quite sobering and easy to get through, though some chapters did lack plot.
My three favourite characters were Rio, The Black and White Dog and the Wild Man.
If you’re looking for a quick read from a different perspective, I’d recommend it.
The protagonists are quite static and not very developed which forces you to focus on the situation at hand and not necessary who the character is.
I really enjoyed this book, it was quite sobering and easy to get through, though some chapters did lack plot.
My three favourite characters were Rio, The Black and White Dog and the Wild Man.
If you’re looking for a quick read from a different perspective, I’d recommend it.
January 4, 2012
The overall feeling of the stories is one of gloom. No one seems particularly happy and people don't seem to be doing things they enjoy.
The most interesting story in the collection was The Wild Man. You actually wondered about him. Was he deaf? It didn't seem like he was-- so was he supposed to be a foil? An example of a different kind of outsider? A representation of how people view others who are deaf?
The deaf community has such a vibrant culture- but none of that vibrancy came across in the book.
The most interesting story in the collection was The Wild Man. You actually wondered about him. Was he deaf? It didn't seem like he was-- so was he supposed to be a foil? An example of a different kind of outsider? A representation of how people view others who are deaf?
The deaf community has such a vibrant culture- but none of that vibrancy came across in the book.
October 30, 2018
I don't think I've ever read a book by a deaf writer about deaf characters, and if this wonder is anything to go by, I'd love to read more. Raises issues of language (signed, spoken, emotional), connection and loneliness.
July 30, 2025
An excellent book with a varied collection of thought provoking stories on the human condition through deaf protagonists. While also in some some stories it is left open
whether the character is deaf or hearing which adds to the analysis of human emotion that is being explored.
The stand out story for me was Black and White Dog, where we see how the sacred and safe place of home can be altered through mockery and the breaking of trust as a child. And how those feeling are then intertwine into interpersonal relationships in the future .
‘ Tommy was more familiar to her than almost anything . They had been together since so easily, and now she knew that every time he brought her home the black and white dog would bark like that again and her mother would say the same thing, and the same violent puncture that her parents’ friend had made in her idea of her family would be made again in what she felt about Tommy.’
whether the character is deaf or hearing which adds to the analysis of human emotion that is being explored.
The stand out story for me was Black and White Dog, where we see how the sacred and safe place of home can be altered through mockery and the breaking of trust as a child. And how those feeling are then intertwine into interpersonal relationships in the future .
‘ Tommy was more familiar to her than almost anything . They had been together since so easily, and now she knew that every time he brought her home the black and white dog would bark like that again and her mother would say the same thing, and the same violent puncture that her parents’ friend had made in her idea of her family would be made again in what she felt about Tommy.’
July 15, 2012
One viewpoint of the deaf community is that being deaf is speaking a language that is foreign to English. The very first story in this set mentions the claustrophobia of living in a small deaf community, and the character desires to move beyond it despite the challenges of communication.
The rest of the stories focus on this basic idea. I felt like I was seeing inside the deaf community for the first time, in a way I hadn't thought of their language before. I appreciated that part of the reading experience, but didn't find the stories to have much interest otherwise.
The rest of the stories focus on this basic idea. I felt like I was seeing inside the deaf community for the first time, in a way I hadn't thought of their language before. I appreciated that part of the reading experience, but didn't find the stories to have much interest otherwise.
October 4, 2011
I didn't like this book. Too many clichés involving young women making stupid decisions about life. It was an interesting perspective into the deaf community, hence the two stars, but I think it could have been done in a more positive manner. All the characters were pretty much unlikeable and the stories started and ended randomly. Boo!
October 17, 2019
This is a solid collection of stories.
The stories all have deaf or hearing impaired characters and put me firmly into their shoes and allowed me to experience briefly the different perspectives of the deaf experience. They’re worth reading for this alone.
The stories all have deaf or hearing impaired characters and put me firmly into their shoes and allowed me to experience briefly the different perspectives of the deaf experience. They’re worth reading for this alone.
July 2, 2017
Short stories not normally my thing, a couple were really thought provoking, most struggled to grab me.
August 25, 2024
Written by a woman who is 4th gen deaf, Chattering is a series of short stories about the experiences of members of the deaf community. Really insightful.
Read
August 23, 2025Dnf
November 3, 2011
Of late, our library has taken to indicating which books contain short stories by putting small stickers on the spines; I wonder if this is, in small part, asking the librarian how I could find the shorts amongst the majority of long stories, all of which are simply filed alphabetically by author? Little acts...
Chattering had such a sticker and the sticker with its red lettering did an excellent job of catching my attention. Discovering the author was fourth generation deaf and the stories were told from a deaf perspective was enough to get my interest up. I grew up with close family members who were deaf, had their own language, expressions and community, I wanted to see how this was conveyed in literature.
These are vignettes rather than stories, all written in the third person. Reading them felt voyeuristic. They’re fairly brief, sketches of ongoing situations, the characters and scenarios have a random quality, vaguely sorrowful and tinged with desperation, yet always with a sense of resilience. At first they brought to mind the Charles Bukowski shorts I’d read a while back - but these are much better.
The first impression was how well she makes this work. The prose is fluid and graceful, a pleasure to read. The conversations between deaf characters is described precisely as I remember it from my childhood. Dramatic gesticulation of the hand signing, breaking the syntax down into economic essentials and disregarding the subtleties. The yearning for subtlety absent in their spoken language is touched upon in one story but there is no shortage of subtlety in Louise Stern's writing. These stories are exquisitely told, I only wished there were more.
Recommended (four and one half stars)!
Chattering had such a sticker and the sticker with its red lettering did an excellent job of catching my attention. Discovering the author was fourth generation deaf and the stories were told from a deaf perspective was enough to get my interest up. I grew up with close family members who were deaf, had their own language, expressions and community, I wanted to see how this was conveyed in literature.
These are vignettes rather than stories, all written in the third person. Reading them felt voyeuristic. They’re fairly brief, sketches of ongoing situations, the characters and scenarios have a random quality, vaguely sorrowful and tinged with desperation, yet always with a sense of resilience. At first they brought to mind the Charles Bukowski shorts I’d read a while back - but these are much better.
The first impression was how well she makes this work. The prose is fluid and graceful, a pleasure to read. The conversations between deaf characters is described precisely as I remember it from my childhood. Dramatic gesticulation of the hand signing, breaking the syntax down into economic essentials and disregarding the subtleties. The yearning for subtlety absent in their spoken language is touched upon in one story but there is no shortage of subtlety in Louise Stern's writing. These stories are exquisitely told, I only wished there were more.
Recommended (four and one half stars)!
March 6, 2014
Alan Warner says: "An amazing debut. Vibrantly perceptive, gentle, funny and profound."
The reader is Sasha Pick.
Abridged and produced by Elizabeth Allard.
Having a profoundly deaf sister-in-law I found these stories interesting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 19, 2011
Pleased I read this book, but not many people I would recommend it too. It was quiet and somber and not a collection of short stories that could be easily shared, but I believe that was the authors intention.
January 6, 2013
The collection wasn't as good as I thought it might be. I liked the idea of stories about deaf characters in which their deafness wasn't the point of the story, but I thought that some of these fell short of 'story' - they were descriptions with little to no plot. Some of them were great, though.
September 20, 2010
Some interesting insights into deaf culture from someone very far removed from it, but a lot of dark and dirty stuff in here that makes for uncomfortable reading at times.
September 29, 2011
I don't know what I was expecting...but what I read was nothing like it. Jumpy without any real substance.
November 15, 2011
Actually, more like 2.5. See my video review here.
November 27, 2011
i didn't like this.....i read the whole thing hoping for it to improve but it just didn't leave me feeling contented....only confused.
July 23, 2012
Stories that give some insight on what it is like to live in a deaf world. They feel more like snapshots that tales that stand on their own.
June 21, 2013
This is an excellent anthology of short stories subtly depicting the deaf experience. Edgy, honest, and rich with imagery.
May 19, 2015
don't know if this should count as read; I gave it up after 2 short stories. I didn't find them very interesting or riveting.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews