ITINERARY
18
FEBRUARY 01, 2012
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
{ BOOKS }
BookofLove
Just in time forValentine’sDay, ordinaryAmericans
share their storiesof love in
All There Is
.
{
}
T
heconceptbehindthe
nonprofit StoryCorps
is simple: Sit down in
a recording boothwith some-
one important to you and talk
withhimorher for40minutes.
“Whenyou’re listening tosome-
oneandasking them, ‘Whoare
you? How do you want to be
remembered?What have you
learned in life?’ you’re telling
them theymatter,” saysDave
Isay, the founderofStoryCorps.
“That is a profound message
to give another human be-
ing.” One free CD recording
of each interview goes home
with theparticipants; asecond
recording is preserved at the
AmericanFolklifeCenteratthe
LibraryofCongress.
StoryCorps’ archiveofmore
than30,000 interviews has al-
ready generated two
NewYork
Times
best-sellingbooks:
Listen-
ing Is anAct of Love: ACelebra-
tion of AmericanLife from the
StoryCorps Project
(2007) and
Mom: A Celebration of Moth-
ers fromStoryCorps
(2010). For
their latestcollection,
AllThere
Is:LoveStories fromStoryCorps
($25, Penguin Press), Isay
selected37moving reflections
on love found and lost. “What
emerges from the StoryCorps
interviewsarethegreatthemes
of humanexistence,” Isay says.
“Loveisthegreatestthemeofall.”
All StoryCorps recording
booths are well stocked with
tissues; youmaywant to grab
a box, too, as you read about
the couplewhose 57-yearmar-
riage startedwith ablinddate,
athree-daycourtshipanda$20
honeymoon, duringwhich they
livedon“hamburgers,beerand
love.”Asame-sexcoupleshares
their joyatbeingable to legally
marrymore than 36 years af-
ter theymet. Andhigh school
sweethearts recall how they re-
unitedafter40yearsapart.
“The book speaks to what
StoryCorps is all about: It re-
mindsyou tosay the thingsyou
want to say, now, to thepeople
whomatter to you,” Isay says.
“Don’twait.Clearout thewhite
noiseandmuck that surrounds
us, and focusonwhat is impor-
tantandthepeopleyou love.”
InShort
HISTORYOFAPLEASURESEEKER
ByRichardMason
(Knopf, $26)
Determined tomove
beyondhismodest
station, charismatic
PietBarol findswork
inoneof themost
prestigiousprivate
homes inearly-20th-
centuryAmsterdam. Thewealthy
Vermeulen-Sickerts familyhas
hiredhim to serveas a tutor for
their sonEgbert,whose fears and
anxietieshave renderedhimunable
to leave thehome. AsPiet isdrawn
into this affluentworld, he is se-
ducedby thebeautifulwomenand
opulent luxury that surroundhim,
leavinghim—and thosewhose
liveshehas touched— forever
changed.Mason’sbeguiling fourth
novel isdrippingwithambition,
eroticismand charm.
—KimSchmidt
SOPHIE:THE INCREDIBLETRUE
STORYOFACASTAWAYDOG
ByEmmaPearse
(DaCapoPress, $25)
When theGriffiths’
familydog, Sophie,
fell off their boat
and into the
watersof the
GreatBarrierReef
inAustralia, they
wereovercomewithgrief. But
Sophiewasn’t lost for good.
Sophie: The IncredibleTrueStoryof
aCastawayDog
is about theblue
heeler’sunbelievable journeyback
toher family—one that included
swimming through sixmilesof
predator-infestedwaters and fight-
ing for survival on the islandof St.
Bees,whichhasno freshwater. It’s
aheartwarming taleof thepower
of loveandperseverance.
—JenA.Miller
