In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise

By: George Prochnik

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Synopsis: Yes, the world is getting noisier, and yes, silence is increasingly hard to find, argues George Prochnik. In this inquiry into noise and silence, the author examines how present-day life has gotten so loud and what we all lose when we're unable to find quiet. Among the people that reader will meet in this book are an architect who is collaborating with the deaf community at Gallaudet University to create a new kind of silent architecture; a soldier in Afghanistan who places silence at the heart of survival in war; a sound designer for shopping malls who ensures that stores never stop their auditory assault on our senses, and a group of commuters who kept background music out of Grand Central Station. Prochnik's well thought out case for silence will appeal to anyone interested the health and environmental effects of an ever more noisy world, or just in cutting down on the stresses in their own life. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)