The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Shattuck, Ben. The History of Sound. Penguin Random House LLC, 2024.

Ben Shattuck's The History of Sound is a short story collection. The 12 collected stories span from the 1600s to the 2000s, and the majority are set in various locations around New England. Each story is written from its own point of view and follows its own plot structure. As a summary, this guide relies upon the present tense and a more streamlined mode of explanation for the sake of clarity.

In "The History of Sound," a stranger from Maine sends Lionel a box containing 25 phonograph cylinders. Lionel and his late lover David had made the cylinders in 1919. When Lionel listens to the cylinders, he is transported back to that summer in Maine when he and David recorded music together. He recalls everything that they shared and how much he loved David. Though hearing David's voice overwhelms him with sadness, Lionel plays through all of the cylinders.

In "Edwin Chase of Nantucket," Edwin feels bored with his predictable farm life with his mother Laurel until Laurel's childhood friend Will and his wife Rivkah pay them an unexpected visit one day. Over the course of Will and Rivkah's stay, Edwin discovers that Laurel has been in love with Will since she was a young woman.

In "The Silver Clip," the unnamed first-person narrator spends a month at his late grandmother's Nantucket home trying to work on his painting practice. One day, he runs into the local museum curator Mallory on the beach. She invites him over to her house. During the visit, the narrator is moved by Mallory's art collection and her late husband's painting studio.

In "Graft," Hope and her husband Harold are at the museum when Hope sees a child who looks familiar. She guesses the boy could be her first husband Sam's son or her own estranged son, Eli. Twelve years prior, she got pregnant and married Sam. After Sam abandoned her, she soon learned he had another family. Alone and trapped, Hope left Eli with her brother. She has kept this history from Harold. However, she now wonders if it is time to tell him the truth.

In "Tundra Swan," Mark starts stealing trees from the nursery where he works to pay for his son Ian's rehab. One day, Mark and Ian get into a verbal altercation that pushes Ian away. Five months later and still no sign of Ian, Mark plants the stolen trees in the woods.

In "August in the Forest," August has a short story published that he is afraid will offend his fiancée Elizabeth. He wonders how he will explain himself. At the same time, he realizes that their inevitable argument about the story could make for a good story by itself.

In "The Journal of Thomas Thurber," Thomas leaves his wife Isabelle at home to spend the winter at a logging camp in the woods. Surrounded by gruff men and brutal weather, Thomas spends his free time writing in a journal. However, he soon incites the anger of Winslow, a fellow logger. Winslow kills James, their other coworker, in a fit of anger. Thomas records the incident in his journal. Terrified that Thomas's diary will lead to his conviction, Winslow poisons Thomas and all the other loggers.

In Radiolab: "Singularities," the hosts of Radiolab interview Anna about her experience with the great auk. When she found a curious photo from 1991 of the allegedly extinct bird in Mule Harbor, Newfoundland, she flew overseas for answers. She never found the bird, but she did end up settling in Mule Harbor. The auk led her to this new life.

In "The Auk," Will finds his great-great-grandfather's great auk in his attic one day. The auk had been preserved by taxidermy. Will takes it out in his boat and photographs it. When his wife Nora sees the photos, she is thrilled and begs Will to go looking for the supposedly extinct bird together. Will is thrilled because Nora's memory has been fading. This is the first excitement she has shown in months.

In "The Children of New Eden," Caroline becomes enamored with Karl Dietzen and his teachings while she is living in Dedham. She soon convinces her sister Emma and husband Philip to join the Karl's Children of New Eden congregation. Karl has assured his followers that after wandering in the wilderness for over 40 months, God will carry them up to heaven on a beam of light. Desperate for this story to be true, Caroline, Emma, and Philip follow Karl away from home. Even when things sour at their new settlement, the characters cannot give up on Karl's message.

In "Introduction to The Dietzens: Searching for Eternity in the North American Wilderness," historian Cal Owens introduces his nonfictional account of Karl Dietzen and his congregation. He explains how and why his interest in Dietzen began, incorporating stories from his own childhood.

In "Origin Stories," Annie lives with her husband Henry in Maine She feels stuck in her life. One day she finds some old artifacts in her attic and contacts the former homeowner, Belle. Belle invites Annie over, and the two spend the day swapping stories. Belle's tales about her former relationships grant Annie perspective on her own marriage.