In Pursuit of Silence Audiobook By George Prochnik cover art

In Pursuit of Silence

Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise

Preview

Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

In Pursuit of Silence

By: George Prochnik
Narrated by: Don Hagen
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $30.08

Buy for $30.08

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

More than money, power, and even happiness, silence has become the most precious and dwindling commodity of our modern world.

Between iPods, music-blasting restaurants, earsplitting sports stadiums, and endless air and road traffic, the place for quiet in our lives grows smaller by the day. In Pursuit of Silence gives context to our increasingly desperate sense that noise pollution is, in a very real way, an environmental catastrophe.

Listening to doctors, neuroscientists, acoustical engineers, monks, activists, educators, marketers, and aggrieved citizens, George Prochnikexamines why we began to be so loud as a society, and what it is that gets lost when we can no longer find quiet. He shows us the benefits of decluttering our sonic world.

As Prochnik travels across the United States and overseas, we meet a rich cast of characters: an idealistic architect who is pioneering a new kind of silent architecture in collaboration with the Deaf community at Gallaudet University; a special operations soldier in Afghanistan (and former guitarist with Nirvana) who places silence at the heart of survival in war; a sound designer for shopping malls who ensures that the stores we visit never stop their auditory seductions; and a group of commuters who successfully revolted against piped-in music in Grand Central Station.

A brilliant, far-reaching exploration of the frontiers of noise and silence, and the growing war between them, In Pursuit of Silence is an important book that will appeal to fans of Michael Pollan and Daniel Gilbert.

©2010 George Prochnik (P)2010 Gildan
Environment Mental Health Psychology
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about In Pursuit of Silence

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    16
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8
  • 4 Stars
    13
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An important subject and a well intentioned work.

Worth reading and very enjoyable in places, simply longer and more verbose than necessary. The author needs an editor that encourages him to be less flowery with his words. That a book on silence has a high noise to signal ratio is ironic.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Bring it on! A quieter world

Interesting book.
Why does a search for silence so often mean an investigation of noise?
Touched on topics I had never heard of before.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Discovered Unexpected Thoughts on Silence

I too find noise unusually annoying and painful. Mr. Prochnik's research is interesting and uncovers some of the difficulties in reducing noise. His findings were surprising, discouraging, and inspiring in turn. He relays his research with an appealing sense of humor.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful