Well done meditations on hearing loss, silence, observation, and (dis)connection. This is not a plot-driven story by any means, but certainly packs a punch. Adding this to my list of books that make me think “I wish I could write like that.”

I enjoyed every moment and was blown away by Barry Callahan's prose. it's refreshing.
(full review to come on bookstagram)

The Hearing Test follows a woman who is struggling with sudden hearing loss. We follow her over the course of a year as she processes this major change in her life. This was a very interior novel; we're in the character's head as she deals with this sudden change in her life, and how it impacts her relationship with her work, friends, and lovers. The character's interactions with a variety of people - neighbors, friends, colleagues - and meditations on art and film really begins to build into a complex narrative of life.

This is a strange book about a young woman who is slowly going deaf. Over the course of a year
We witness her encounters with hearing specialists, a former boyfriend and his current girlfriend,
family members and just strangers. This a story about on silence and becoming more observant,
I enjoyed it.

THE HEARING TEST by Eliza Barry Callahan grabbed my attention, being a deaf person. It is a contemporary fiction about a young woman who became late-deafened. I was thrilled going into this book, the late-deafened (within the Deaf community) is a subgroup that often gets overlooked. The writing was beautiful, it was a quick read as the book is divided up in 4 parts (it also is 176 pages long). As of her journey post-diagnosis of sudden deafness, I appreciate the reality of having to go through doctors’ appointments and trials. I had some difficulty to stay engaged with the other details - like about her life. I really wanted to love this book more, but I liked it.

I received an ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The Hearing Test is FANTASTIC! A young woman with an audio-related profession suddenly begins to lose her hearing, and doctors are not able to put a finger on why. As she navigates medical testing--standard procedures as well as experimental webcam hypnotism over an unreliable internet connection--the reader is made privy to astute and profound (often remarkable in their simplicity) observations of the world around her. There are strange neighbors, distant landlords, thoroughly relatable family relationships, a love(?) triangle(?), all while maintaining a cozy, quiet, familiar reading experience. I've never read anything quite like it in its way of illustrating a character's serious trauma and sudden disability as a thread that runs through a life and wraps everything up in itself without putting any onus on the character to come out triumphant... instead changed and perseverant.

Callahan is obviously incredibly smart and has a knack for creating beautiful imagery in her prose. That being said, this book felt both plotless and unnecessarily absurd in its characterizations.

Major thanks to NetGalley and Catapult for offering me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts:

"𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯—𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘺."

Found my first top read of the year.

A woman goes deaf and experiences a Lispector-existentialism through a rabbit hole of Cusk-characters.

It's so quiet. Muted. There's a humming throughout. The book almost speaks in entire whispers. And it reaches and reaches for ways to make sense of the world in trains of thought that end up in pockets of my own doubts and miseries, in ways I've realized I've disconnected from the world, from people. This book is the entire experience of gripping, grappling at what is shoulder-close. It's seeking intimacy. It's seeking for a certain kind of belonging only found in apparition or peripheries.

"𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦."
...
"..𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸..𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳."

short n sweet but definitely packs a punch! I didn't know much about sudden deafness going into this and man, what a shitty fate. nothing really *happens* for most of this novel but it gave me a lot to think about. I think people will really like this one!

thanks netgalley and catapult for the arc <3

i fear this book may have been too smart for me.

we follow the MCs thoughts as she wakes up one day with sudden hearing loss. we follow as she deals with doctors, trials, romances, relationships, life.

this book is not split into chapters but instead 4 parts. It’s fairly short, coming in at around 160 pages. most of it was an easy read, flowing like one really long thought process. Much less description of things and more this happened, she said this, then this happened.

a great piece for thought, for awareness of how others live, from what life might be like if you suddenly woke up with hearing loss and for others who always do.

it reminds me slightly of The Idiot, a plot where nothing happened but something kinda happened but also the meaning of life is dissected with no answer. i enjoyed it nonetheless.

thank you for the ARC via netgalley

I was in such a reading rut and then THE HEARING TEST fell on my lap. Scratched exactly the right itch! Definitely for fans of Rachel Cusk (the voice and digressive-ish narration centered on vignettes/moments), the novel tells the story of a woman faced with Sudden Deafness, and the many encounters that follow. One of the best books I've read recently. Can't wait to discuss with others in the spring!

Thanks to the publisher for the e-galley!

THE HEARING TEST follows an artist faced with sudden and unexplainable deafness. The protagonist spends a year attentively tracking the progression of her hearing loss and her dosage of medication, and her conversations with the people around her—riddled with digressions, estrangements, and misunderstandings—feed into her meditations on silence.

The style is lucid and allusive, and very funny—there's a very elegant tone of remove that I think happens when someone is very factual and self-effacing about their introspection and curiosity, which reminded me of Elif Batuman or Maya Binyam. There's also a very cool use of ellipses throughout the book that was stylish and thematic without being didactic. ("The thing is . . . he said, and then he didn't finish the sentence.")

THE HEARING TEST is, enjoyably, not strictly confined to its themes. It has a haunting description of walking around small villages and forests of Europe via Google Maps, thoughts on writers and artists like Robert Walser and John Cage and Hanne Darboven, and a scene where someone has to unstick dog shit from the cleft of their Tabi. Something for everyone! One of my favorite books of the year!