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Soundtrack of Silence: Love, Loss, and a Playlist for Life Hardcover – January 9, 2024

by Matt Hay (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 94 ratings
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An inspiring memoir of a young man who discovered he was going completely deaf just at the moment he’d fallen in love for the first time.

As a child, Matt Hay didn’t know his hearing wasn’t the way everyone else processed sound―because of the workarounds he did to fit in, even the school nurse didn’t catch his condition at the annual hearing and vision checks. But by the time he was a prospective college student and couldn’t pass the entrance requirements for West Point, Hay’s condition, generated by a tumor, was unavoidable: his hearing was going, and fast.

A personal soundtrack was Hay’s determined compensation for his condition. As a typical Midwestern kid growing up in the 1980s whose life events were pegged to pop music, Hay planned to commit his favorite songs to memory. He prepared a mental playlist of the bands he loved and created a way to tap into his most resonant memories. And the track he needed to cement most clearly? The one he and his new girlfriend, Nora―the love of his life―listened to in the car on their first date.

Made vivid with references to instantly recognizable songs―from the Eagles to Elton John, Bob Marley to Bing Crosby, U2 to Peter Frampton―Soundtrack of Silence asks readers to run the soundtrack of their own lives through their minds. It’s an involving memoir of loss and disability, and, ultimately, a both unique and universal love story.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    272 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    St. Martin's Press
  4. Publication date
    January 9, 2024
  5. Dimensions
    5.65 x 0.95 x 8.6 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1250280222
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1250280220
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[P]oignant. . . [Hay's] optimism in the face of adversity is stirring. This moving memoir makes magic out of facing the music." - Publishers Weekly

“What’s a music lover to do when the music stops? …A medical odyssey told sensitively.” -Kirkus

About the Author

MATT HAY is the U.S. Director of Advocacy for rare diseases at a biopharmaceutical company. He has served on the national board of directors for the Children’s Tumor Foundation, as a certified Cochlear Corporation patient advocate, and as a development adviser for the St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf. He lives in Westfield, Indiana, with his wife/hero of more than twenty years and their three teenage children.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Press (January 9, 2024)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250280222
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250280220
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.65 x 0.95 x 8.6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 94 ratings

About the author

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Matt Hay

Matt Hay

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Matt Hay had a long journey toward deafness and even longer journey toward learning to “hear” again with an experimental brainstem implant. He first publicly shared his story on a National Public Radio. The intimate, funny and authentic peek at what it’s like to start a career, fall in love and build a life while battling a rare disease inspired actor Channing Tatum and Paramount Pictures to option the motion picture rights to Matt’s life story.

When Matt isn’t adding tracks to the soundtrack of his life, he passionately supports the hearing loss community. He’s proudly served as a Congressional lobbyist for neurofibromatosis (NF) research funding, the genetic disorder that caused his deafness, and has raised money for NF research by doing endurance events, including an Ironman Triathlon and most recently, the Boston Marathon.

Matt currently serves the rare disease community as the US Director of Advocacy for a biopharmaceutical company. He lives in Westfield, Indiana, with his wife and three children. Visit www.HearMattHay.com.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
94 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Tina and Pete
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone with a heart
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2024
Verified Purchase
This is a touching and beautifully written love story. It also tells the tale of how an amazing young man coped with a devastating illness that among other things left him completely deaf and how despite that, he built an incredible life. Matt tells his story with an endearing sense of humor and joy for the gifts of music, family, youth and love.
Just read it. You will be happy you did.
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Josh
5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring memoir, written with wit and humor.
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2024
Verified Purchase
Soundtrack of Silence is the true story of a young man who completely loses his hearing in his 20s. It's also a story of the power of music and friendship, of words and of silence, of determination, luck, and second chances. After reading the publisher's description, I had a hunch I would enjoy this book, but I wound up getting things out of reading it that I hadn't expected to. First, I came away with a much deeper appreciation of some of the greatest music ever made. The author weaves lyrics from his favorite songs - many of which you probably know (these are the songs he committed to memorizing in a deep way as he was going deaf) - throughout the book, and you find yourself thinking, "Man, I've heard that song 50 times, but that is a *powerful* line that I had never truly appreciated." It's also written in a super approachable way - you really feel the author's wit, humor, and unique personality as you read it (or listen to it, as I did). There are also just some great lines, like the quip that growing up in the 1980s was "like the Wonder Years, but with Madonna as the backstory instead of Vietnam." But this book also makes you appreciate something that, unless you happen to be deaf or hard of hearing, you almost certainly take for granted: your hearing. And it makes you deeply empathize with the millions of people around the world who struggle and often thrive with disabilities in a world that often doesn't much take them into account. Highly recommended!
3 people found this helpful
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AC
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous read!
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2024
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As an 80s kid who also grew up in Indiana, I fully understood all the stories and music references Matt makes, which made his story of loss all the more poignant and inspiring. And funny. I laughed, I cried! And i learned some stuff. This book has it all. I appreciated learned a thing or two about new technology as it relates to the science of hearing... but mostly I loved Matt and Nora's LOVE story. It is woven thru the difficult journey that unfolds for Matt and left me with nothing but hope for tackling the hard things life can throw at you! A must read for 2024 if your looking for a little inspiration!!!
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars I Hear You
Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2024
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I wasn't sure what this was really about, maybe conquering deafness. But as I read it I realized that it was about encouragement. I could also relate a tiny bit. Back in the early 80s the guy who sat to my right at work yelled at me one day and said, you know what I'm going to get you for Christmas? A hearing aid. I remembered that 12 years later when I was told I had an acoustic neuroma. Small world. Thanks for sharing your story!
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Kevin W. Mcgarvey
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this book!!!
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2024
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Matt Hay writes with vulnerability and clarity around what it was like to lose his hearing and endure many life challenges that most of us never have to think about. His wit and range of emotional experiences hits your heart like a story that you want to carry with you into the world in remembering the unique struggles and fights people must face. Inspiring, humorous and insightful. I can’t recommend this book more highly for hearing a unique story within the hopeful and hard working human experience.
One person found this helpful
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amy reay
5.0 out of 5 stars Resonates strongly
Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2024
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Matt’s life is not my own. But his story and so many of his experiences, emotions and physical feelings parallel mine. I also have NF2 and I found that reading this book was a validation of so many things I’ve felt and thought. Reading this made me feel understood, which is a very important thing right now in my lifetime when I realize those close to me can empathize but never truly understand. Thank you Matt for sharing so much of yourself in a well written story that encourages others. And also, thank you for the music you gave me here in form of written lyrics that correspond with my own memories.
One person found this helpful
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Michael J. Myers
5.0 out of 5 stars A Man and his Wife--with a hard row to hoe
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2024
Verified Purchase
Matt Hay had a life where he was a gregarious social animal, with the personality of a salesman who could strike up and enjoy a conversation with anyone. And then one day he couldn't do that because he absolutely could not hear. And in fact after surgery to install a brain stem implant he couldn't walk. He and his wife have managed to overcome most of that. He has a career, he has kids and a family and he can hear sort of--and he can talk. I read the book--and then listened to the audiobook narrated by Hay.

I can relate--somewhat. I'm just past 80. I started to wear hearing aids when I was just short of 50. Four years ago my hearing in my left ear had deteriorated to the point where I needed--and had--a cochlear implant on one side. For some people the cochlear implant is miraculous. For me--not so much. The bad news is that while I can comprehend some words with the CI, they sound very low in volume, as if whispered across the street. And if the volume is turned up tinnitus drowns everything out. The good news is that a conventional hearing aid on the other compensates for most of that.

After reading the book I told my audiologist that Matt Hay had a problem--all I had was a nuisance.
But one of the lessons in the book is that you can usually manage to make it through the day with minimum effort--but if you want to get to where you want to be, you have to work hard. My experience has been that the more effort I put into working with my CI the more progress I make. I'm not there yet--and indeed may never get there--but Matt Hay had a lesson for me.

And for his wife, Nora. Her future father in law observed that she "came from solid stock". And indeed she did. Wives like that are a jewel beyond comparison. I know--I was lucky to find a wife from "solid stock" although she's not had to deal with the level of difficulty that faced Nora Hay.
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Lee Synnestvedt
5.0 out of 5 stars A disease that needs more research and awareness hi 7
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2024
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I loved this very inspirational book! I had brother who had neurospiromatosis of a different type. His disease was growing on the outside
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