T.M. Wolf
Sound
(Faber & Faber, April 2012)
Set on the Jersey Shore over the course of one long summer, Sound is the story of Cincy, a young man who returns, somewhat reluctantly, to his childhood town and takes up a job as a boatyard manager. The town is saturated with nostalgia and melancholy for Cincy, and as he attempts to oversee the eclectic employees at the boatyard, he struggles to find meaning in a place that seems only to offer mundanity… until one evening he meets Vera and his purpose becomes clear. A poignant love affair with an incredibly atmospheric setting, Cincy’s search for meaning and his battle to get the girl are brilliantly evoked using the form of a musical score, with the reader ‘hearing’ the book as it is read: dialogue, thought, heartbeats and a hip-hop soundtrack are layered throughout the pages. A haunting and emotive story, enriched by a highly unusual new form, Sound rings out with simple, understated clarity. It is a wildly imaginative and inventive debut.
Read the annotated author’s cut of Chapter Three of SOUND on Rap Genius