Soundtrack of Silence: Love, Loss, and a Playlist for Life

Hay centers his poignant debut on a tantalizing question: “If the rest of your life had to be lived in silence, what sounds would you want to remember?” After learning that his diagnosis with neurofibromatosis would eventually render him completely deaf, Hay leaned into his lifelong love of pop music and resolved to create a playlist of songs he never wants to forget. During his Midwest childhood, Hay “barely noticed when the upper register” of sounds made by power tools, lawn equipment, or rifles “disappeared completely”; it wasn’t until he failed a West Point hearing exam that he realized something was wrong. Alongside the details of how he’s learned to compensate for his condition by reading lips and other methods, Hay sharply articulates the ways in which going deaf plays tricks on the mind: “The thing about gradual hearing loss is that you forget when you used to hear something that you no longer can,” he writes at one point. Elsewhere, Hay praises the devotion of his wife, Nora, who inspired many of his playlist picks, and explores the significance to their relationship of songs by the Eagles, Bing Crosby, and Prince. While Hay doesn’t sugarcoat his circumstances—he unsparingly recounts his lengthy recovery from multiple brain surgeries, for example—his optimism in the face of adversity is stirring. This moving memoir makes magic out of facing the music. (Jan.)