The Quiet Ear
An Investigation of Missing Sound: The ‘bighearted, transformative memoir’ about deafness and identity
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping basket is already at capacity.
Add to cart failed.
Please try again later
Add to wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Remove from wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
New to Audible Prime Member exclusive: 2 credits with free trial
1 credit a month to use on any title to download and keep
Listen to anything from the Plus Catalogue—thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts and audiobooks
Download titles to your library and listen offline
₹199 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.
The Quiet Ear
Narrated by:
Raymond Antrobus
Buy Now for ₹500.00
-
Narrated by:
-
Raymond Antrobus
-
Written by:
-
Raymond Antrobus
About this listen
**PRE-ORDER NOW**
A memoir. A cultural history. A call to action.
'This book left me transformed' CALEB AZUMAH NELSON
'A tender triumph' EMMA WARREN
'Read this book' LEMN SISSAY
'Destined to become a modern classic' ROGER ROBINSON
'Changed how I will move through the world' CLINT SMITH
Raymond Antrobus was first diagnosed as deaf at the age of six. He discovered he had missing sounds - bird calls, whistles, kettles, alarms. Teachers thought he was slow and disruptive, some didn't believe he was deaf at all.
The Quiet Ear tells the story of Raymond's upbringing at the intersection of race and disability. Growing up in East London to an English mother and Jamaican father, educated in both mainstream and deaf schooling systems, Raymond explores the shame of miscommunication and the joy of finding community, and shines a light on the decline of deaf education in Britain.
Throughout, Raymond sets his story alongside those of other D/deaf cultural figures, from painters to silent film stars, poets to performers - the inspiring models of D/deaf creativity he did not have growing up.
The Quiet Ear is a groundbreaking and much-needed examination of deafness. A memoir, a cultural history, a call to action.
'Brilliant' SEÁN HEWITT
'A marvel' ILYA KAMINSKY
'Expansive, generous and massively tender' HANIF ABDURRAQIB
'Powerful and important' ANDREW LELAND
'Lyrical, moving and powerful' ALICE WONG©2025 Raymond Antrobus
Critic Reviews
Raymond Antrobus's ability to open-up and share the different ways his Deaf identity has shaped his life is profoundly unique and moving. The Quiet Ear is a must-read for anyone currently on the journey to understanding their Deaf identity (Rose Ayling-Ellis)
I've been a fan of Raymond's writing since The Perseverance and The Quiet Ear sees his voice take yet another leap. Ray writes with incredible tenderness and curiosity, writing about deafness in a way that is generous, expansive and, most importantly, honest. Ray's incredible capacity for documenting the interior is on full show here, traversing not just his griefs and losses but his hopes and joys too. This book left me transformed (Caleb Azumah Nelson, author of Open Water)
An insightful, bighearted memoir, both expansive and precise . . . The Quiet Ear is a transformative story for all readers, offering an opportunity to discover the missing sounds and misunderstandings of their own experience - and begin to comprehend what it means to truly listen
The finest words from one of the finest poets. He gives true and new meaning to the term 'finding his voice' . . . If you want to experience what it is like to be an outsider on the inside or an insider on the outside, read The Quiet Ear. Lean in to The Quiet Ear. Listen (Lemn Sissay, author of My Name is Why)
This is not merely a memoir; it is a poetic reckoning with language, racial and cultural belonging, grief, masculinity and the very nature of listening. Every page pulses with vulnerability and insight, urging readers to reconsider their assumptions about ability, expression and voice . . . In a world saturated with noise, this book is a quiet revolution
Searing . . . In The Quiet Ear, Antrobus avoids being relegated to an object of pity . . . The memoir is a journey from the kind of shame that led to Antrobus masking his deafness in adolescence (growing his hair long and wearing hoods to hide his hearing aids) then finding the confidence that allowed him to compose revealing autobiographical poems. The Quiet Ear is dark and often heart-rending. But it is a testament to Antrobus's creativity and mirrors his poetry
A wise, intimate and questing book . . . with The Quiet Ear, [Antrobus] has made a book for the boy he was, but he's also given other readers an insight into life both between cultures and between sounds
I absolutely loved this book. The Quiet Ear pulses with generosity. Among other things, it offers a nuanced exploration of self in relation to sound and an entry point into the historical and contemporary richness of D/deaf culture. A tender triumph (Emma Warren, author of Dance Your Way Home)
A moving and expansive book about the long journey of finding a voice, and the joy and power of using it (Seán Hewitt, author of All Down Darkness Wide)
No reviews yet