“Life After Deaf”

By Noel Holston

Skyhorse Press, $24.99

At first they thought the problem might be blocked sinuses, but when Noel Holston’s hearing evaporated overnight and did not return, he and his wife, Marty, headed to the doctor. The news was sobering: The microscopic hairs in his inner ear that catch sound had collapsed, and with them Holston’s hearing.

“Life After Deaf,” Holston’s memoir of losing his hearing at age 62, is a graceful and compelling read. As the title hints, and as Holston himself admits, he has never met a pun he didn’t like, so consider yourself forewarned — there are plenty.

But puns aside, the story moves quickly, with anger, frustration and humor, as Holston navigates this new, silent world that, he said, “was making me invisible.” Holston — a former TV critic now living in Georgia — writes about the isolation he felt, unable to participate in conversations. And living without his beloved music — he is a songwriter, and his wife a singer — was excruciating.

The technical and medical details, the frustrating fights with the insurance company, the failed first operation, the better second one — all are folded seamlessly into the narrative.