Nonfiction

This Is the Voice

This Is the Voice

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  • Create Date：2021-07-12 08:51:45
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：John Colapinto
  • ISBN：1982128747
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Summary

Beginning with the novel—and compelling—argument that our ability to speak is what made us the planet’s dominant species， he guides us from the voice’s beginnings in lungfish millions of years ago to its culmination in the talent of Pavoratti， Martin Luther King Jr。， and Beyoncé—and each of us， every day。

Along the way， John Colapinto shows us why the voice is the most efficient， effective means of communication ever devised and why speech is the single most complex and intricate activity humans can perform。 He travels up the Amazon to meet the Piraha， a reclusive tribe whose singular language， more musical than any other， can help us hear how melodic principles underpin every word we utter。 He heads up to Harvard to see how professional voices are helped and healed， and he ventures out on the campaign trail to see how demagogues wield their voices as weapons。

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Reviews

Richard Rogers ，

A very readable book about language and the human voice。A fellow ESL/English teacher sent me this book out of the blue， and I'm glad she did。 It touches on many interests we have in common， especially language acquisition， the science of language in the brain， and the history of language。 And it doesn't disappoint--lots of interesting information on these topics。 Right up my alley。The author connects us with a lot of recent research on the topic of voice in particular， sometimes supporting the o A very readable book about language and the human voice。A fellow ESL/English teacher sent me this book out of the blue， and I'm glad she did。 It touches on many interests we have in common， especially language acquisition， the science of language in the brain， and the history of language。 And it doesn't disappoint--lots of interesting information on these topics。 Right up my alley。The author connects us with a lot of recent research on the topic of voice in particular， sometimes supporting the opinions of linguists and sometimes pushing back。 He's a bit hard on Chomsky and Pinker， a little more supportive of McWhorter， and not necessarily right in his arguments--I mean， I dunno for sure--but he has good support for his takes。 I think he may be a bit reductive in what he states as Chomsky's position regarding "deep grammar" in the human brain， but it leads to an interesting discussion and leaves room for others to continue the conversation。Quite a bit of this was utterly new to me and very entertaining， though it's presented more at a popularization of science level than at a professional scientific level， so if that's what you're into， you may not profit much by it。 However， for those casual non-fiction readers interested in the topic， along with all those amateur or semi-professional linguists， [clears throat]， this is highly recommended。 :） 。。。more

Brook ，

The author claims human exceptionalism when it comes to language。 Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are？ blows that one away。 I assume the author has not read that one。 That aside， this book is filled with interesting facts， and was a joy overall to read （although I had to keep ignoring the exceptionalism）。 There is linguistics， biology， and some anthropology in there。 A great read。 The author claims human exceptionalism when it comes to language。 Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are？ blows that one away。 I assume the author has not read that one。 That aside， this book is filled with interesting facts， and was a joy overall to read （although I had to keep ignoring the exceptionalism）。 There is linguistics， biology， and some anthropology in there。 A great read。 。。。more

Daniel Farabaugh ，

This is a very interesting book。 It does a better job discussing the biological developments of the voice than it does on the impact of speech。 But， overall it had a number of very fascinating points。

Estare K。 Weiser ，

Wonderful study of voice and consciousness and the brain。 Worth reading again， which I may。

Rick Austin ，

AmazingWhat a wondrous book concerning the voice。 As a speaker and singer it had a great impact and I learned so much。 Highly recommended。

Sacha ，

Especially liked the links between how humans and birds learn to speak/sing。 Some of the research on how babies learn to speak was new to me。 Most of the biology of how our shape makes our variety of sounds possible was new。 This book was worth reading。 However， I found the author's company a bit grating。 Especially liked the links between how humans and birds learn to speak/sing。 Some of the research on how babies learn to speak was new to me。 Most of the biology of how our shape makes our variety of sounds possible was new。 This book was worth reading。 However， I found the author's company a bit grating。 。。。more

Greg Stoll ，

A pretty interesting book about， well， the voice。 Colapinto's thesis is that while language was obviously important to the development of our species， having a way to quickly communicate with our voices was just as important， and obviously something else that no other species can do。Odds and ends:- You can speak words around five times faster than using sign language！- After some research done in the 1990s， we now understand dyslexia is a problem of hearing and processing voices。 Neat！- "Prosody A pretty interesting book about， well， the voice。 Colapinto's thesis is that while language was obviously important to the development of our species， having a way to quickly communicate with our voices was just as important， and obviously something else that no other species can do。Odds and ends:- You can speak words around five times faster than using sign language！- After some research done in the 1990s， we now understand dyslexia is a problem of hearing and processing voices。 Neat！- "Prosody" is the word for the patterns of stress and intonation you use when speaking。 - The way adults talk to babies in a high-pitched singsong voices is universal across cultures and languages; the theory is that this helps babies learn to distinguish between words and start figuring out how to make sounds。 （One of the other themes of the book is that making all the sounds in a language is quite difficult！）- Darwin discovered that babies learn how to use prosody before they learn how to say words！- There's a whole interesting section about how good we are at conversations， and how we can anticipate the timing of what people are going to say。 They did an experiment where they asked students "So you're a student？" and "So you're a student at Radboud University？"。 In both cases the student answered "Yes" with no overlap as soon as the sentence finished， even though one sentence is a subset of the other！- In English conversation， we speak in roughly three tones - high， mid， and low。 Of course， some other languages use those tones for meaning， and we also use it to convey more information。 A high pitch means we disagree with something that someone just said to us， a mid pitch （matching the pitch of the other speaker） means that we agree， and a lower pitch means that we agree so strongly that it's a foregone conclusion。 Neat！- From ages one to sixteen， kids learn one new word every two hours， which is insane if you stop and think about it！- Another thing in the vein of "things that are surprisingly tricky that we do without thinking" is inhaling enough air based on how long we think we're going to speak for。 Kids as old as twelve still haven't mastered this and sometime run out of air mid-sentence！- A researcher （Dr。 Nalina Ambady） did a fascinating experiment on the voices of surgeons talking to patients during office visits。 She ran the speech through a low-pass filter that removed the language content but preserved the tone and pitch。 （i。e。 the prosody） She then asked listeners to rate the voices for things like "warmth"， "anxiety"， "concern"， "interest"， "hostility"， and "dominance"。 Using only these ratings， Dr。 Ambady was able to predict with 100% accuracy which surgeons had been sued！ （using a dominant tone was the giveaway） This seems to be independent of the surgeons' actual abilities - the ones with a dominant tone were off-putting enough that when they did do something wrong， people wanted to sue them， I guess！- I've read this before， but it's still neat: the reason every airline pilot speaks in that same voice you're probably imaging now （"well folks， looks like we're about to begin our descent into Austin International Airport， current weather is clear skies。。。"） is that that was the way Chuck Yeager spoke， and Chuck Yeager was the first to break the sound barrier， so naturally pilots wanted to be like him。- There's an interesting section with a theory that the "gay voice" starts when toddlers who are biologically predisposed towards being gay identify more closely with opposite-sex parents and caregivers， and learn their speech patterns better。 I'm always a little skeptical about theories like this， but。。。maybe？ （there's a whole documentary on the "gay voice" that I haven't watched， to be honest）- The high-class British accent （in My Fair Lady， say） is known as Received Pronunciation （RP）， and when the BBC was started in 1922， they mandated that RP be used because it was the clearest， most intelligible speech。 （which is what everyone thinks about their own dialect！） They also hoped to influence everyone in England to use the same accent and erase class differences。 This utterly failed; to change your accent after puberty you have to really work at it。 （like in My Fair Lady！） But even babies and kids generally don't learn accents from a broadcast; they need a back and forth feedback loop。- Dr。 William Labov published the Atlas of North American English in 2006 in which he found， contrary to popular belief， that regional US accents are actually diverging instead of converging！ 。。。more

Laura ，

This book did a great job capturing what I find so fascinating about the voice that I wrote an entire dissertation about vocal fold vibration。 However， the first six chapters are riddled with errors ranging from minor （twenty-odd vowels in English？ which English is that？！） to laugh-out-loud/text-your-fellow-phds-in-horror bad （the example of IPA is "dik-shə-ner-e"！！） and the chapter on politics felt completely out of place。 This book did a great job capturing what I find so fascinating about the voice that I wrote an entire dissertation about vocal fold vibration。 However， the first six chapters are riddled with errors ranging from minor （twenty-odd vowels in English？ which English is that？！） to laugh-out-loud/text-your-fellow-phds-in-horror bad （the example of IPA is "dik-shə-ner-e"！！） and the chapter on politics felt completely out of place。 。。。more

Ken ，

The main thesis of the book is that humanity’s ability to use the voice to convey complex ideas that carry both information and emotion is the characteristic that distinguishes humanity from other life forms on earth。 The book starts with how the human voice works at an anatomical/biological level and then moves to language acquisition， language and identity， and finally how the sounds we make define， at a fundamental level， how we see and understand the world。 It is a fascinating read。

Elizabeth Boquet ，

Classic reportorial style for Colapinto， who is a staff writer for _The New Yorker_。 I like anything having to do with language， linguistics， voicing， and rhetoric; this is a solid example of popular writing in that area。

Tim Mcmacken Jr。 ，

A super interesting look at the physical， psychological， and evolutionary history and relevance of our voices。 Really great read！

Rebecca ，

The book wasn't really what I hoped it would be - useful for me to find strategies to improve my singing now that I have vocal problems at age 68 - but I gave it four stars anyway， because the human voice is so important and does not get the appreciation and understanding it deserves。 We take our voices for granted， but know so little about how lucky we are， and what an impact singing and speech has on our lives！ "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone。" By far not as impressive to me as The book wasn't really what I hoped it would be - useful for me to find strategies to improve my singing now that I have vocal problems at age 68 - but I gave it four stars anyway， because the human voice is so important and does not get the appreciation and understanding it deserves。 We take our voices for granted， but know so little about how lucky we are， and what an impact singing and speech has on our lives！ "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone。" By far not as impressive to me as "The Hand" by Frank R。 Wilson， which taught me so much， especially an appreciation of our opposable thumbs， it is nevertheless a worthwhile read。 。。。more

Colleen ，

interesting， more of a light history of theories about speech than anything else。 a little bit about evolution， interesting bit about a tribe with a unique sung language and the bits about how language is effected by gender ， race and class and all that goes with that were also informative

Ann OConnell ，

As a speech pathologist this book was full of intersting details about how we use our voice and language。 The type of book you really need to read twice to start to absorb all the interesting facts that come forth about how our communication really works。

Steve ，

Fabulous book about the human voice。 So important， but not studied or written about enough。 Very well written。 I thought the last couple or three chapters lagged a bit， but the first two-thirds of the book was packed full of interesting stuff。

Paul Falzon ，

Seriously， the voice is that interesting。I read a fleeting but glowing review in the New York Times and thought “That sounds interesting，” and then promptly forgot about it。 One week later I saw a copy sitting on the New Arrivals shelf at my local library， my go-to place for fresh serendipity。 I took it home， read a chapter and decided I needed a copy of my own。John Colapinto balances focused research and sharp storytelling to present a compelling argument; that all of human intelligence， cultur Seriously， the voice is that interesting。I read a fleeting but glowing review in the New York Times and thought “That sounds interesting，” and then promptly forgot about it。 One week later I saw a copy sitting on the New Arrivals shelf at my local library， my go-to place for fresh serendipity。 I took it home， read a chapter and decided I needed a copy of my own。John Colapinto balances focused research and sharp storytelling to present a compelling argument; that all of human intelligence， culture and artistry was born in the mouth。 。。。more

Lucy ，

This book originated from an article that Colapinto wrote for The New Yorker。 Perhaps he should have left it at that。 Too much research， not enough soul。

Ann Wildgen ，

This book was amazing。 I was interested in all aspects presented。 Having been educated in physiology of the senses， I found no errors in the discussion of the anatomy/physiology of the voice。 However， if physiology is not your thing， there are valuable insights to the sociological and psychological aspects as well as music and oratory that were handled in a very approachable manner。 A "good read" in all aspects。 This book was amazing。 I was interested in all aspects presented。 Having been educated in physiology of the senses， I found no errors in the discussion of the anatomy/physiology of the voice。 However， if physiology is not your thing， there are valuable insights to the sociological and psychological aspects as well as music and oratory that were handled in a very approachable manner。 A "good read" in all aspects。 。。。more

Toddy ，

I loved it， so many ideas to think about， related to speech development and language， and how the human throat and mouth make sounds。 I think the part about political oration didn’t fit in well， and would be better if much shorter。

Lois Thomson ，

This is excellent。 You will never think of voices， lungfish， or birds the same way again。

Lacey ，

There was some interesting material but it didn't all come together cohesively the way the best nonfiction does。 In fact， it bogged down quite a bit in history of and niche battles in linguistic studies。 I still enjoyed it。 There was some interesting material but it didn't all come together cohesively the way the best nonfiction does。 In fact， it bogged down quite a bit in history of and niche battles in linguistic studies。 I still enjoyed it。 。。。more

Dana ，

The linguist in me really loved the first half of the book。 It provided a good insight on development of language and how it impacts us a humans。 I especially loved the look at the research done with the tribe in the Amazon and the lack of recursion in their language。 Totally fascinating。 Towards the end of the book （ especially the chapters on leaders and musicians ） it all became a bit to shallow and opinionated for me。 Totally unnecessary。 I was very excited at first and kept talking to every The linguist in me really loved the first half of the book。 It provided a good insight on development of language and how it impacts us a humans。 I especially loved the look at the research done with the tribe in the Amazon and the lack of recursion in their language。 Totally fascinating。 Towards the end of the book （ especially the chapters on leaders and musicians ） it all became a bit to shallow and opinionated for me。 Totally unnecessary。 I was very excited at first and kept talking to everyone about things i had read in the book。 The last few chapters just felt like a bit of a let down。 。。。more

Christa Maurice ，

This is a fantastic book。 I am currently finishing a graduate class in linguistics and about half the term was in these pages。 It's best as a audio book because it has so much information about dialects。 Unfortunately the author reads the introduction and the reason he decided to write the book is because he damaged his voice。 It makes that first part very difficult to listen to。 It's worth getting past though。 This is a fantastic book。 I am currently finishing a graduate class in linguistics and about half the term was in these pages。 It's best as a audio book because it has so much information about dialects。 Unfortunately the author reads the introduction and the reason he decided to write the book is because he damaged his voice。 It makes that first part very difficult to listen to。 It's worth getting past though。 。。。more

Susan ，

This might be more than you ever thought you wanted to know about the voice。 It was for me。 And what an education！

Mary G。 ，

We use our voices each day， but how often do you stop to think about yours？ Maybe when you lose your voice from a cold， or when you hear an audio recording of yourself and think - do I actually sound like that？！ For author John Colapinto， his voice odyssey started in a rock band。 He loved singing， giving 100% even in rehearsal， until he noticed he couldn't。 He even developed postural changes in his neck to try to compensate before being diagnosed with a polyp on his vocal cords。 After realizing We use our voices each day， but how often do you stop to think about yours？ Maybe when you lose your voice from a cold， or when you hear an audio recording of yourself and think - do I actually sound like that？！ For author John Colapinto， his voice odyssey started in a rock band。 He loved singing， giving 100% even in rehearsal， until he noticed he couldn't。 He even developed postural changes in his neck to try to compensate before being diagnosed with a polyp on his vocal cords。 After realizing that he （his true character） was no longer being transmitted by his voice， he embarked on a journey to learn more about the voice， its origins， and why it's so important。The personal hook really grabbed me， and I so enjoyed embarking on this study of the voice with Colapinto。 Humans are the only animals with a descended larynx， and this anatomical change makes us capable of clear and precise speech， with the consequence of making us more likely to choke to death on our food。 In fact， our affinity for spoken language may explain why so many of us love audiobooks and podcasts， and why oral traditions predated the development of writing systems。Colapinto explores language acquisition in children and the role of the voice in communication with them - it turns out that our lapsing into the sweet tones of baby talk， which Colapinto labels Motherese， is not without a purpose。 I also loved the exploration of accents and how we make judgments based on others' speech patterns - whether they represent UK received pronunciation， a Boston accent， or Eliza Doolittle cockney。 He also explores the magic of singing and dramatic speech， how voice can convey emotion and persuade almost independently of the words spoken。 5 stars to a creative and entertaining exploration of the voice， a topic I didn't know much about。 I highly recommend to another looking for a good popular science read。Thank you to Simon & Schuster for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。Review posted to Goodreads 4/18/21Review to be posted to Instagram 4/25/21 。。。more

Sandra ，

I very much enjoyed the scientific data on the development of voice in humans and the role of the physically developed voice in Joni sapient as an important factor in the evolving dominance of Homo sapiens。 The author’s anecdotes are diverting and educational。

Gail ，

I’ve never enjoyed a non-fiction book as much as I did this one！ So much fascinating information presented in such easy reading。 I look forward to reading more by this author。

Matt Cannon ，

This book caught my attention when I stumbled upon it in a book store。 Here are some of my main takeaways。 Evolutionary theories such as Origin of Species didn't at first try to address human speech or development。 Human communication， making complex sounds and annunciations to convey thoughts and ideas is very unique and often under appreciated。 The book covered several famous scientists and researchers such as B。F。 Skinner and Pavlov。 One cool fact I wasn't aware of was that Pavlov also traine This book caught my attention when I stumbled upon it in a book store。 Here are some of my main takeaways。 Evolutionary theories such as Origin of Species didn't at first try to address human speech or development。 Human communication， making complex sounds and annunciations to convey thoughts and ideas is very unique and often under appreciated。 The book covered several famous scientists and researchers such as B。F。 Skinner and Pavlov。 One cool fact I wasn't aware of was that Pavlov also trained dogs not to salivate on the bell， which is arguably more difficult than the mainstream Pavlovian phenomenon we're aware of。 More interesting facts from book。 - Humans take oxygen in the lungs before speaking。 - there is what appears to be a flaw that causes choking， Darwinian theory would consider this a flaw， but when you look closer that anatomical feature that allows food to go down the wrong pipe also allows speech in humans via the larynx。 - Neanderthals larynx didn’t descend as far down as humans did。 - The birth process is similar to evolution process。 - In the womb， as a zygote， we’re more like a fish， breathing in water before we develop to the form when we take out first breath。 - Neanderthals could only produce a strict amount of vowels。 Researchers did a silicone and computer mode to test。 - For purely anatomical reasons Neanderthals speech and vowels were limited。 - Neanderthal extinction was due to Homo Sapiens who had better speech and communication。 We had better vowels。 - language formed around 400，000 years ago due to anatomical developmental reasons coupled with the brain’s development。 - The breathing and descent of the larynx combined with the tongue and lips to have all these hundreds of muscles create this under appreciated power of speech。 language is an expression of thought。 - Parkinson’s dementia- many scientific breakthroughs start as studies of anomalies and abnormalities of human behaviors。 - grammar genes were expected， but it was ruled out during a study。 - There was a palsy， the basil ganglia， which addresses the fine motor movements of speech。 - Speech problems， or grammar， motor control of articulators， the power to tune our voices is all related to the basil ganglia。 - FOXP2 gene - we all have 2 copies。 one from mom and one from dad。 - All family members with shriveled basil ganglia had speech， grammar and learning problems。 - Oxford lab found all this during studies。 - Wolfgang Enard - was tasks to lead this effort to study FOXP2- sometime after our species branched off from apes there were two amino acid changes and substitutions in the FOXP2gene。 - resulted in a high charged basil ganglia。 - Neanderthals FOXP2 underwent the same changes as ours。 - The neural pathways to the basil ganglia's were enhanced。 - birds and mice also have the FOXP2 gene。 - this genetic similarity with birds and humans makes sense。 - birds evolved before mammals， basically flying reptiles， dinosaurs。 - birds either evolved their FOXP2 by convergent evolution During the Cambrian age- FOXP2 isn’t a gene for language， it is rather more accurately the first gene ever found responsible for the unique specialization of our human voice。 - It is the best evidence we have for a species of slow hairless primates made their improbably journey to the top of the food chain。 - For Lieberman， the developments of FOXP2 and the basil ganglia are only the latest evidence to support his theory that language， far from being a purely mental phenomenon is a physical act， whose first tracings can be traced back 100s of millions of years to the oldest lung breathing vertebrate ancestor， the lung fish and its voice， regardless of how much like a fart it sounded。 - the exigency of survival and reproduction gave rise to speech some 100，000 years ago when a series of random， but advantageous genetic mutations led in our early hominid line to increased control over respiration， to the descent of the larynx， and the powering of the basil ganglia for articulation。 All anatomical accidents， selected by nature and the advantages in survival and reproduction that they conferred and which bred a better， language capable brain。 - The Voice， thus in Lieberman’s conception played a major role in creating language。 - As he once put it， “we talked ourselves into becoming human。”- Noam Chomsky has often expressed indifference to where language came from， dismissing Darwinian selection， but not providing any plausible alternatives。 - In a 1999 interview Chomsky said that he might see a role for Darwinian selection aspect to language after all。 In 2002 he published a paper on the subject。 - His paper caused a major upheaval in the linguistics field。 He proposed that speech didn’t develop for communication， but rather for thinking。 They focused on the pure cognitive changes that endowed us with the capabilities of speech。 - Alone among animals with the ability to think linguistically。 - They concluded that this ability emerged due to one operation and one only， recursion。 - Recursion refers to our ability to put one idea inside of another。 - Thanks to recursion， you can just keep embedding ideas。 - The man walked down the street。 The man had on a top hat。 - becomes - The man with a top hat walked down the street。 - Did Chomsky and his colleagues call recursion the only mental link that creates language？- Steve Pinker and Ray Jackendoff argued against Chomsky and said that while recursion was important， it was by no means the only distinguishing factor of voice and language。- Deep in the 37 page paper was a paragraph about the pueraha tribe of only 400 people deep in the Amazon rain forest spoke an unusual language which distinctive factor was it didn’t use recursion。 - Daniel Everett， a missionary turned linguist who lived with and studied the Pirahã tribe for 30 years。 - He said that instead of saying I saw the dog， at the beach bitten by a snake。 They would say。 I saw the dog。 He was at the beach。 He was bitten by a snake。 - They lack the recursive ability to embed ideas within ideas and have to spell everything out separately。 - The linguist community said that this may be a result of retardation due to inbreeding， which Everett shot down。 The tribe regularly refreshes its DNA pool by mating with traders and outsiders often those in the Brazil nut trade。 - All evidence shows they’re just as capable mentally as other humans - The inability to use recursion wasn’t a cognitive restraint， but a cultural one。 - Goes in and out of experience instead of going away。 The candle flicker goes in and out of experience。 The person who goes beyond the river goes out of experience。 - The missionary said due to the tribes view of experience they couldn’t relate and lost all interest in the story that Jesus died for their sins 2，000 years ago。 - Eventually， so did Everett。 In the late 1990’s he became an atheist and ceased trying to convert the tribe and focused instead on understanding their unusual language。 - The tribe didn’t learn farming skills that are future focused and still used their hunter gatherer skills and remain unchanged over the years。 - The immediacy of experience principle shaped their culture and society。 - All of this affected their speech and resulted in them not having what Chomsky said was universal in human speech， recursion。 - Because the Pirahã only accepts as real what they can see in the here and now， their speech consists of direct assertions。 - Abstractions are impossible in the tribes tongue。 - Their speech was also based on only 8 consonants and 3 vowel sounds as an 11 letter alphabet compared to our 26。 One of the simplest sound systems known。 - It’s tonal like Mandarin Chinese to make sounds that can use fewer characters to make more speech。 In addition， the book talks about accents which often say something about class and standing in the world。 This book is a fascinating study of the human voice。 Once you read it， I think you'll have a greater appreciation for the miracle of how effortlessly we as humans communicate。 You'll also probably pay more attention to people's voices。 It's a good， interesting book。 。。。more

Mark Nelson ，

Interesting book， did a good job turning this one topic into a book-length thing

Rachel ，

This book was so fascinating; I was learning so much and was excited about the topics presented， until I got to chapter 7。 There it became so riddled with opinion， blatantly misleading and dishonest information， that despite the fact that the rest of the book was so interesting and presumably well researched， I couldn't give it higher than two-stars。 Such a disappointment。 I think I'd still recommend this book but maybe suggest you avoid chapter 7， unless you're a Trump-hating， Obama-sycophant l This book was so fascinating; I was learning so much and was excited about the topics presented， until I got to chapter 7。 There it became so riddled with opinion， blatantly misleading and dishonest information， that despite the fact that the rest of the book was so interesting and presumably well researched， I couldn't give it higher than two-stars。 Such a disappointment。 I think I'd still recommend this book but maybe suggest you avoid chapter 7， unless you're a Trump-hating， Obama-sycophant like the author clearly is， then you'll probably love every word in all it's seething prosody （audiobook）。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=This Is the Voice

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=This Is the Voice&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,This Is the Voice&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0