Shouting Won't Help: Why I--and 50 Million Other Americans--Can't Hear You
Shouting Won't Help: Why I--and 50 Million Other Americans--Can't Hear You book cover

Shouting Won't Help: Why I--and 50 Million Other Americans--Can't Hear You

Hardcover – February 19, 2013

by
Price
$15.19
Format
Hardcover
Pages
288
Publisher
Sarah Crichton Books
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0374263041
Dimensions
6.12 x 1.03 x 8.92 inches
Weight
1.15 pounds

Description

From Booklist *Starred Review* According to the latest statistics, 48 million Americans, or a whopping 17 percent of the population, have some kind of hearing loss. Bouton, a former senior editor at the New York Times, is one of those people. In her compelling memoir, she chronicles her own progressive loss over the decades, from a partial decline in her left ear at 30 to eventual complete loss. Hearing loss, she says, follows the traditional stages of grief: denial, anger, depression, and, finally, a reluctant acceptance. And, she notes, it affects people of all ages, not just the elderly. Employing an engaging and even entertaining writing style, Bouton discusses the causes of hearing loss, the often horrendous—and ubiquitous—noise levels that surround us in the modern age, the ongoing stigma associated with hearing loss, the benefits and disadvantages of hearing aids and cochlear implants, the psychological impact of hearing loss, the lack of insurance coverage for hearing aids, and the debilitating toll that hearing loss can take in the workplace. In addition, she examines the condition’s “ugly stepsisters,” tinnitus and vertigo, before concluding on an encouraging note about ongoing research for a biological cure. Each chapter includes short profiles of people with hearing loss. An important and remarkable book. --June Sawyers “Poignant, enlightening . . . a relatable, inspiring narrative of taking control, going public and finding comfort and empowerment in connecting with others facing similar difficulties. A well-written, powerful book.” ― Kirkus Reviews (starred) “[A] compelling memoir . . . Employing an engaging and even entertaining writing style, Bouton discusses the causes of hearing loss . . . An important and remarkable book.” ― Booklist (starred) “ Shouting Won't Help is a fascinating and frequently moving exploration of the hearing loss that strikes so many of us and those we love. The book is filled with enlightening personal observations, wise advice, and answers to frequently asked questions. If you've ever said ‘What?,' gotten annoyed at those who do, had a miserable experience at an expensive but cacophonous restaurant, or wondered which is most dangerous to your health--sex, drugs, or rock and roll--this book is for you.” ― Steven Pinker, Harvard College Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and author of The Language Instinct “The world is getting noisier, but fortunately we have Katherine Bouton, whose talent for listening remains undiminished by her hearing loss. Her book is both a moving memoir and an indispensable resource for everyone who cares about their ears.” ― Deborah Solomon, author of Utopia Parkway “Katherine Bouton's book is not only entertaining--it is profoundly necessary. As the daughter of a hearing-impaired parent, I found that it offered me insight, inspired compassion, and made me feel less alone. I can't wait to share it with my mom!” ― Peggy Orenstein, author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter “Katherine Bouton offers a wealth of information and insight about a frustrating and isolating condition. Her book inspires those who suffer from hearing loss and educates those who wish to understand its vicissitudes.” ― Jerome Groopman, Recanati Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and staff writer for The New Yorker “Katherine Bouton makes a brave personal contribution by underscoring the emotional harm deafness can cause. Open, frank, wise, up-to-date, and consistently informative, Shouting Won't Help will be of immense use to anyone dealing with hearing loss.” ― Peter D. Kramer, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University and author of Against Depression Katherine Bouton is a former editor at The New York Times , where she worked for The New York Times Magazine and The New York Times Book Review , as well as the daily Science and Culture desks. Her nonfiction has appeared in The New Yorker , The New York Times Magazine , and many other magazines and reviews. She is currently a regular reviewer and contributor to Tuesday's Science Times section. She lives in New York City with her husband, Daniel Menaker. They have two grown children. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • For twenty-two years, Katherine Bouton had a secret that grew harder to keep every day. An editor at
  • The New York Times
  • , at daily editorial meetings she couldn't hear what her colleagues were saying. She had gone profoundly deaf in her left ear; her right was getting worse. As she once put it, she was "the kind of person who might have used an ear trumpet in the nineteenth century."
  • Audiologists agree that we're experiencing a national epidemic of hearing impairment. At present, 50 million Americans suffer some degree of hearing loss―17 percent of the population. And hearing loss is not exclusively a product of growing old. The usual onset is between the ages of nineteen and forty-four, and in many cases the cause is unknown.
  • Shouting Won
  • '
  • t Help
  • is a deftly written, deeply felt look at a widespread and misunderstood phenomenon. In the style of Jerome Groopman and Atul Gawande, and using her experience as a guide, Bouton examines the problem personally, psychologically, and physiologically. She speaks with doctors, audiologists, and neurobiologists, and with a variety of people afflicted with midlife hearing loss, braiding their stories with her own to illuminate the startling effects of the condition.
  • The result is a surprisingly engaging account of what it's like to live with an invisible disability―and a robust prescription for our nation's increasing problem with deafness. A
  • Kirkus Reviews
  • Best Nonfiction Book of 2013

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(71)
★★★★
25%
(59)
★★★
15%
(36)
★★
7%
(17)
★
23%
(54)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Informative but also irritating, partly because of the editor, not the author?

I have read prose written by Katherine Bouton in the New York Times and elsewhere before and found her to be a fine, elegant writer. That is not the case with the prose in this book, which betrays (to my eyes) telltale signs of the editing-to-dumb-down style that is unfortunately rampant in nonfiction trade books today. In this book every sentence not only seems to have been pruned to a barebones length and syntax, but the sentences and paragraphs lack the easy, natural flow of compelling expository writing.

Since as I said Bouton's writing in other venues has never struck me this way, I must infer that either Sarah Crichton (her FSG editor) or her literary agent has been responsible for taking all the life out of her prose in a misguided attempt to write down "to the market." Much of this book reads as though it had been written by a college student or rookie journalist, not the seasoned professional I know Ms. Bouton to be. A tip-off: the "Acknowledgments" section in the back of the book is written in a much more fluent, elegant, personal, smart style than the rest of the book. Presumably because Sarah Crichton or her minions kept their hands out of the pudding there? As FSG is a prestige imprint, it's shocking that this is an FSG book -- where are you, Jonathan Galassi, when you are needed to bear the standard to hold the rest of the industry up to your (erstwhile) high literary standards?
23 people found this helpful
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Some people might find it helpful, but I didn't.

I've been hard of hearing since birth and have worn hearing aids in both ears for 40 years thus far and plan to wear them for another 40 or 50 years, luck be with me. ;) Maybe I'm not the preferred audience for this book, but even so, some of the ideas written in this book are simply incorrect and at times, baffling. For example, on page 6: "A hearing aid is a visible sign of an impairment has long been associated with aging and mental retardation." ?? Aging, yes, I agree, but mental retardation? I've never heard of that so-called "long-held" association. Perhaps the people who see the hearing aid and do not understand what it's used for could possibly be called mentally retarded, but I digress. Other reviewers have pointed out that "hearing impaired" is considered an offensive term, but she does admit to not being particularly concerned with political correctness. I also disagreed with her insistence that hearing aids have to be expensive. No, they don't and there is no good reason that there are no longer affordable hearing aids available in the United States other than greed. In any case, I grew impatient with the author's attitude and I also found it strange. The author has no problems going gray and accepting her age in that way, but she can't wear her implant with a fancy dress because by doing so, she's admitting she has hearing loss and is *old*? Is that logical? Not to me. I guess I don't understand any of it because all I've ever known is that I want to hear as much as I can, so bring on the gadgets!! If I have to wear a huge sign on my back that says "HARD OF HEARING PERSON HERE!!" in order to qualify, so be it. I guess that makes me "mentally retarded." :)
12 people found this helpful
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Deal With It!

Although the reader can benefit from the journalistic experience of the author the message that one would expect to get is certainly lost in the presentation. This is not a self help directory for the HI individual or the Deaf Community. The best description I could relate would be the stubborness and denial that the author chooses to share rather than for her to be pro-active and address her disability. There is probably only 30% technical information of brands and the capabilities of the products everything else is lost on the "Woe Is Me" attitude of the author. I was disappointed with the book as being HI myself and an expert "speechreader" and hearing aid user for 47 years I was expecting to relate to her situation. This was not the case. In defense I will say that any information that can draw attention to the abusive NOISE in the world is worth 5 stars but the book on the entirety for me was a 2 star.
10 people found this helpful
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If you say"WHAT?" alot, get this book.

First off, I loved this book because it wasn't a audio book (ha, ha). When I saw the cover art, I knew the author had summed it all up...I can hear you, but you sound like my ears are under water.
Another reviewer complained you could have learned everything in this book from a audioligist (mine didn't take the time), or on-line (facts but not feelings). This is not a "self improvement" book, because aside from getting a hearing aid, which will NOT return normal hearing, there is not much you can do (not prayer, diet, jogging, climate change, yada, yada). What the book does do is give you someone who understands what you are going through. The people who you interact with may understand your situation better if they read this book...but when I explain that songs I once loved now sound so awful I want to weep, they probably still don't understand. Yes, I now have hearing aids, and they help as long as conditions are ideal (read the book for a definition of "conditions").
9 people found this helpful
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Misinformation

I couldn't even finish it, the opening chapters were so full of misinformation. Firstly, "hearing impaired" is not the politically correct term as she would have it. It is considered offensive by many, many deaf and hard of hearing people, and any fact-checker who had called any of the many organizations of the deaf and hard of hearing would have found that out right away. Her definition of thresholds is also dead wrong. If your thresholds are at, say 45dB, that doesn't mean they are 45dB higher than normal. It means the softest sound you can hear measures 45dB (normal thresholds for children are I think up to 10 or 15, for adults, thresholds up to 25dB are considered normal, which would make a threshold of 45db about 20db higher than normal).

I gave up at that point. So relentlessly negative, and errors right from the start? No thank you!
8 people found this helpful
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Disappointment

A major disappointment, this was a book I'd looked forward to reading because of my partner's deafness and involvement as a teacher at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. With such a heavy emphasis on technical details, this is not a book for a general audience which makes me wonder how it got published? Perhaps because of the author's connections in the publishing world? Also, what in the world was the significance of including the bit about that poor heavy-set auditory therapist whom the author rejected outright? Sigh.
7 people found this helpful
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How To Help Those We Love Have A Happy, Fulfilling Complete Life

[[ASIN:0374263043 Shouting Won't Help: Why I--and 50 Million Other Americans--Can't Hear You]]I wish I could have had Stop Shouting for my father to read. Almost immediately following his retirement he was clearly having difficulty hearing. He had hidden it well for many years. This is a man who studied abroad, started with Polish at home then Latin in Catholic School, then German to survive the walk to school, then English because the State of Wisconsin required it for public instruction, then Russian, French, and finally Spanish because he taught in the poorest junior high school in Minneapolis for 30 years.

We was a child prodigy on the Piano, studied music in Poland in 1937 and both taught and translated Polish correspondence for many for most of his life. He was a community organizer during the co-op movement before during and briefly after WW II. At the end of his life he refused to wear hearing aids and stopped speaking.

Weonly found out about his problems because as he got older there newer younger leaders for groups and causes he lead. We was a poor follower because, we now know he couldn't hear. He was a very learned man who lost his ability to contribute and we seemed powerless to help him regain it, or even know that he wanted to.
Stop Shouting is the story, the color, and the shocking reality for so many of us and for our parents and loved ones. We live in a society that ignores hearing impairment (That's you and me.). . . What movie can you go to besides a foreign film that has captions? While some can laugh at funny statements . . . one in five of us don't get the joke! We can no longer process the punch line in time to recognize that a joke just happened. One in five of us don't laugh anymore.

This is a terrible way to end life; unable to contribute because the audience can't wait for us to "Get It"; remaining silent most of the time because we just can't make out or process the conversation. Our lip reading skills are defeated by mumblers and bumblers, or a hand in front of a mouth while speaking.

The perversity and prevalence of hearing impairment is a national human tragedy suffered by 50 million of us that could largely be mitigated. We have given up the best parking spots to the disabled, the front rows of theaters and auditoriums should be reserved for the hearing impaired. Or all films and programs with speakers (like sermons in church) should be captioned, as they now do for opera goers . . . imagine how many hearing impaired are enjoying opera now just because the programs are captioned . . . the music almost doesn't matter.
Please get this book for your mother, father, aunts and uncles over 50, and for those who for some mysterious reason have withdrawn from active participation in the conversations they used to dominate author of Stop Shouting began losing her hearing at age 30. Hundreds of thousands of veterans from our recent wars brought home hearing loss, even if there are no other signs of injury.

We are raising a whole generation of hearing impaired children who listen to their MP 3 players so loudly, even the deaf can hear. Stop Shouting is the first book that gives all of us a sensible and recognizable picture of what is happening to all of us as we age. And new evidence about the relationship of hearing loss to Alzheimer's symptoms should alarm everyone. Many tousnads who have withdrawn aren't symptomatic . . . they just can't hear. We can fix that.

The message for me (I do have severe hearing loss that was noticed when I was 50) and for you in Stop Shouting is that those we love, by themselves, are needlessly experiencing this extraordinarily lonely, personal suffering and tragedy that could be largely mitigated by those around them and in many instances by society as well.

To Paraphrase General Douglas MacArthur's famous quote about old soldiers, The People We Love With Hearing Impairments Fade Away Then Die Before Our Very Eyes, Hardly Uttering A Word. You could have done more, and now you can.
7 people found this helpful
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The sounds of life

We don't really appreciate what we have until we lose it. One such thing is hearing. We take for granted that we can listen to good music, enjoy the intimacy of a whisper from a lover or a morsel of good gossip or event hearing ourselves eating a potato chip or breathing, the daily sounds of living.
Katerine Bouton chronicles her experiences in : Shouting Won't Help: Why I- and 50 million other Americans- Can't Hear You a very intimate portrayal of what it is like t lose your hearing. It did not happen overnight for her and she does a good job of sharing how her life went silent. She really does not know why she lost her hearing.
This book also has vignettes of side stories from others who have gone deaf. We often think of that crazy uncle or older relative of being "hard of hearing" but in reality there are more of us who struggle with hearing loss or better yet are in denial.
This book was a joy to read and informative about hearing, it has a good explanation of the working of the ear and how we don't appreciate the complexity of the way in which we are able to hear the world around us.
A former New York Times editor and impressive resume, Bouton has writing a powerful book that will make you appreciate your good ears, because if you live long enough you will not be able to hear the crisp sounds of the world around you.
6 people found this helpful
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Not a Big Shout for this book

I have several friends who have benefitted greatly from getting cochlear implants and a friend who is contemplating getting the cochlear implant, so as the hearing child of deaf parents I was very interested in getting and reading this book, which I purchased originally through Audible.com. I then purchased the written book for my friend who is contemplating the implant. It is very interesting to read of the writer's experiences with deafness, but her denial at her loss of hearing and subsequent implant and continuing denial was disconcerting. I do recommend this book to anyone who is interested in deafness, implants. However, my friend and I felt there was a lot of extraneous fill that could have been left out. I personally found myself getting bored with portions and skipped until I found pages of substance. I feel badly that Ms.Bouton had so much difficulty in adjusting to her life as a hard of hearing/deaf person. I wish she personally could focus more on the positiveness of the technology that has helped to turn her life around. I hope her negativity does not discourage others from seeking help from cochlear implants.
5 people found this helpful
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cut adrift from the hearing world

Katherine Bouton's book is both a thoroughly researched survey of the field of midlife hearing loss as well as a moving personal exploration of her own condition.
I felt her pain reading of her decision to cut short her successful career as an editor at the New York Times when the hearing impairment got the better of it all. I took early retirement as an academic before my hereditary sensorineural loss became apparent. Knowing what was ahead from family histories, I sort of walked out like Bouton. As Bouton tells it, the process of "acceptance" and adjustment to serious midlife hearing loss is a long and very difficult journey. In a similar fashion to her experience, I disguised my own loss at work and I had no desire to be labeled "disabled" or rearrange my relationships with the academe, students or colleagues as a professional with special needs (I was too old, it all seemed too hard and I was too proud). From reading Bouton's accounts this seems to be a common response for people from the hearing world who are now cut adrift from it.

As Bouton highlights in the book, mid life hearing loss is indeed an "invisible" and "hidden" disability. I'm still at the stage where I would much rather be quiet and miss a lot of what's being said than have a person repeat it to me loudly as if I've not been paying attention in class. This is so embarrassing, but I've found it's the most common response from a speaker when you ask them about what they've said. How are people to know they need to practice rephrasing what they've said or summarise a context to you so you have a better chance of keeping up with a conversation? A big effort on their part. And as Bouton explains, the act of trying to hear and understand what's going on with your residual hearing and aids can be a bigger effort on your part, taking "tremendous concentration" that produces "cognitive overload".

I found the sections on assistive technologies particularly relevant. I agree with Bouton's argument that hearing devices are very costly but that audiologist are worth their keep. While hearing devices are expensive and under-insured most audiologists provide devices that include extensive backup support, ongoing adjustments and replacements. As the book details, acquiring any assistive audio technology (and that includes hearing aids) requires an awful lot of skill on the part of the provider and an awful lot of adjustment/re-learning on the part of the person with the hearing impairment. It's not a "natural" solution to hearing loss. Ironically, I was a sound-recordist in my younger days, way before the hereditary condition began to manifest and sometimes the array of technology and technique that surrounds hearing impairment reminds me of the complexity of the media field I used to work in. It's why I have a motivation to persevere with old fashioned "speech reading" (lip-reading), as its technology free.

As well as telling her story, Bouton's book is laced with fascinating interviews that she conducts with scientists and researchers in the field of hearing loss. It also includes very inspiring interviews with people who've accepted their loss and are re-engaging with the world differently but creatively and productively. The recent research Bouton cites, however, on the links between hearing loss and dementia is worrying. The questions it raises about understanding its causes are pressing. It also raises the significant issue of the possible need for national hearing assessments and interventions in various countries.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand what it's like to lose your hearing in mid-life. It's also an important book for those with this form of impairment for understanding the current context that impacts on their choices. It will provide a necessary background to the cultural, technical, supportive and not so supportive state of affairs that exists.
5 people found this helpful

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