All There Is by Dave Isay
Publisher: The Penguin Press HC (February 2012)
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours
Formats Available: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio CD
Format Read: Hardcover
Synopsis from Goodreads: A celebration of love from StoryCorps.
In “All There Is,” founder Dave Isay shares stories of love and marriage from the revolutionary oral history project, revealing the many and remarkable paths that relationships can take.
From the excitement and anticipation of courtship to the deep connection of lifelong commitment, we discover that love is found in the most unexpected of places-a New York toll booth, a military base in Iraq, an airport lounge. As the storytellers in this book start careers, build homes, and raise families, we witness the life-affirming joy of partnership, the comfort of shared sorrows, and profound gratitude in the face of loss.
These stories are also testament to love’s remarkable endurance. Love survives discrimination, illness, poverty, time-even death. In the courage of people’s passion we are reminded of the strength and resilience of the human spirit and its enduring capacity to begin anew. This powerful collection bears witness to real love, in its many varied forms, enriching our understanding of that most magical feeling.
My thoughts: Everyone has a story, what’s yours? One of things that joins us together is our stories. Throughout the last several months I’ve noticed that as people are experiencing things for the first time, they are genuinely interested in learning about the experiences of others. It could be a new love, an engagement, the announcement of a pregnancy or the birth of a child. On the other side of that is the enjoyment we get from sharing those stories. Just in time for Valentine’s day All There Is was released, celebrating the various stages of Love.
I’d heard about something similar to the Story Corps project in another book (fiction) so I didn’t realize that it was a genuine project. I have to say it is an excellent idea. Sometimes it is difficult to put yourself out there and tell another how you truly feel and the stories revealed in All There Is do just that. They best part is that they are not all about romantic love. Many stories are shared between parents and children or from one friend to another. Each of them are inspirational in their own way.
There were so many great stories that I’m having a hard time trying to select a favorite. I think the ones that I enjoyed the most were those from the couples that had been together for 40+ years. I find these stories so inspirational since we live in a time in which people give up so easily. To hear the randomness of how they met and in many cases how quickly they married, and to hear the love in their stories gives me hope.
All There Is would be a great gift book for pretty much anyone. I’m going to be giving a copy to a friend who is newly engaged with the hope that she finds it as inspirational as I do. I also think that someone who is a bit down on love would be able to find a story that resonates with them in this book. That is how truly diverse these stories are. There is so much to be learned from the stories and experiences of others. All we need to do is really listen…
© 2012, Teresa. All rights reserved.
Sounds really really good.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this because I read a review and immediately added it to my “to read” list. I’ve known about StoryCorps for awhile (you can subscribe to NPR’s storycorps story of the week feed), but I’m thrilled there’s now a book – and one written/edited by Isay, who’s a fabulous journalist. I can’t wait to read it.
I agree that stories about people being married for a long time are particularly inspirational! This sounds like such an uplifting read!
Thanks for being on the tour!