New Haven

The Sound Waves

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The History of Sound: Stories
By Ben Shattuck
Viking
July 9, 2024
306 pages

It’s ae long story. And 12 short stories.

Ben Shattuck tells those dozen stories in his new collection called The History of Sound. They stories span three centuries. They interconnect in pairs — sometimes in passing, through an old painting or field recording buried under floor boards, sometimes more directly in traveling back in time to reveal the full story of a mystery that has been reinterpreted and rewritten by later generations.

In the process, Shattuck is telling us one story, about our legend-laden region of New England. And about telling stories, period.

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