About the Book & Authors

About the Book

StoryCorps founder and legendary radio producer Dave Isay selects the most memorable stories from StoryCorps' collection, creating a moving portrait of American life.

The voices here connect us to real people and their lives—to their experiences of profound joy, sadness, courage, and despair, to good times and hard times, to good deeds and misdeeds. To read this book is to be reminded of how rich and varied the American storybook truly is, how resistant to easy categorization or stereotype. We are our history, individually and collectively, and Listening Is an Act of Love touchingly reminds us of this powerful truth.

About the Editor

Dave Isay is the founder of StoryCorps and its parent company, Sound Portraits Productions. Over the past two decades his radio documentary work has won nearly every award in broadcasting, including five Peabody awards. Dave has also received a Guggenheim Fellowship, a MacArthur Fellowship, and a United States Artists Fellowship. He is the author (or coauthor) of four books based on Sound Portraits radio stories, including Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago and Flophouse.

How Do I Get the Book?

Students: Copies are available for purchase at the USA Bookstore and at your local bookstore. Copies are available for loan at the University Library.

Students with Disabilities: If you are a student with a documented disability and wish to request this text in an alternate format, please contact Educational Accessibility and Disability Resources (CEADR) at (251) 460-7212.  No alternate format copies will be supplied without proper documentation.

Faculty and Staff: If you are interested in participating in this program or reviewing the text, please email commonread@southalabama.edu.