Ben Shattuck + Thessaly La Force & Oliver Hermanus: The History of Sound

Join us for a launch event with award-winning author Ben Shattuck, for a discussion of his debut short story collection The History of Sound. Joining Ben in conversation are New York Times contributor Thessaly La Force and feature film director Oliver Hermanus. This event will be hosted in the Strand Book Store's 3rd floor Rare Book Room at 828 Broadway on 12th Street.

Can’t make the event?.

STRAND IN-PERSON EVENT COVID-19 POLICY:

Masks and vaccination checks are not required for entry.

Attendees are welcome to wear a mask if they choose. If you do not have a mask and would like one, The Strand will provide masks at the door.

Please note this is subject to change any time before or during the event per the author’s request.

ACCESSIBILITY:

Strand Book Store is an ADA compliant venue. The event space is accessible via elevator.

ASL interpretation is available for this event by request only. Please reach out to our events team at [email protected] by June 25th to request.

Please ask a Strand employee upon arrival for directions to accessible seating if preferred.

For further information on accessibility in this space, or to make a request, please contact [email protected]

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“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.

A stunning collection of interconnected stories set in New England, exploring how the past is often misunderstood and how history, family, heartache, and desire can echo over centuries.

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, artifacts, 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.

Photo credit: Andreas Burgess

Ben Shattuck is the author of Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau, which was a New Yorker Best Book of 2022, a Wall Street Journal Best Book of Spring, a New York Times Best Book of Summer, a New England Indie Bestseller, and was nominated for the Massachusetts Book Award. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and winner of the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers and a Pushcart Prize. He lives with his wife and daughter on the coast of Massachusetts, where he owns and runs the oldest general store in America, built in 1793. He is also the director and founder of the Cuttyhunk Island Writers’ Residency.

Thessaly La Force is a contributor to The New York Times Styles Section covering culture, entertainment, fashion, and design. She also frequently writes for a number of publications, including Vogue, The New York Times Book Review, Harper's Bazaar, Aperture, The World of Interiors, and The Paris Review. Previously, she was features director of The New York Times Style Magazine.

Oliver Hermanus is a feature film director and writer. His most recent film, Living, was nominated for two Academy Awards and four BAFTAs in 2023. His films have premiered in the competition sections of both the Cannes Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival and his work is the recipient of many international film awards. His films include Beauty (Skoonheid), The Endless River, Moffie, Living, and the television series Mary & George. Beauty won the Queer Palm Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. He is currently at work on The History of Sound, starring Josh O'Connor and Paul Mescal.

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