Let Me Clear My Throat

Elena Passarello is an actor and writer originally from Charleston, SC. She studied nonfiction at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Iowa, and her essays have appeared in Creative Nonfiction, Gulf Coast, Slate, Iowa Review, Normal School, Literary Bird Journal, Ninth Letter and in the music writing anthology Pop Till the World Falls Apart. She has performed in several regional theaters in the East and Midwest, originating roles in the premieres of Christopher Durang’s Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge and David Turkel’s Wild Signs and Holler. In 2011, she became the first woman winner of the annual "Stella! Shout Out" screaming contest in New Orleans.

• PART ONE: SCREAMING MEMESDown in the HollerThe StarletThe Wilhelm ScreamThe Motor MouthHow to Spell the Rebel YellThe CandidateCommunication BreakdownThe ZealotHarpyThe NovicePART TWO: TIPS ON POPULAR SINGINGSpace OddityThe SopranoJudy! Judy! Judy!The ContestantHey Big SpenderThe PhoenixAnd Your Bird Can SingThe KingTeach Me TonightThe FrontmanPART THREE: THE THROWNThe InterpreterPlease HoldThe IllustratorDouble JoyThe IllusionistPlaying SickThe Shape-ShifterA Monstrous Little VoiceThe Amputee

Book Riot, "10 of the Best Essay Collections""[A] fascinating collection about voices throughout popular culture, from an 18th century opera singer to Spaceballs to A Streetcar Named Desire."—Liberty Hardy for Book Riot, "10 of the Best Essay Collections""This striking debut is graceful even in its portrayal of the most barbaric groans and yelping cries."—Publishers Weekly“In a brilliant combination of rigorous study and conversational tone, actor and essayist Passarello has created a remarkably entertaining and thought-provoking look at the human voice and all of its myriad functions and sounds.... A wonderful collection for any reader and every library. Highly recommended.”—Library Journal, Starred Review“In this eclectic collection of essays, actress and writer Passarello explores the ways in which our voices define us, refine us, and connect us to one another.... Passarello, the first woman to win the annual Stella Screaming Contest in New Orleans, informs and delights in this witty, original read.”—Booklist“Standout pieces include a biography of the most famous scream in Hollywood history; a breakdown of the relationship between song and birdsong; and an analysis of the sounds of disgust. Akin to: A dinner party at which David Sedaris, Mary Roach and Marlon Brando are trying to out-monologue one another.”—Philadelphia Weekly“What she’s produced here is a masterfully orchestrated collection of essays, so finely tuned and executed that they ring with choirboy clarity.... Not only an authority on the human voice, but also one hell of an entertaining writer.”—DIAGRAM“The beauty of Elena Passarello's voice is that it's so confidently its own. She's not selling her subjects. She writes with the kind of calm assumption of interest you make in a good friend (if a good listener) over dinner. But what she's saying is always unexpected, and full of information. I began randomly with her essay wondering what the space aliens will make of ‘Johnny B. Goode’ on the Voyager gold record, and couldn't stop after that.”—John Jeremiah Sullivan“With her extraordinary powers of listening, Elena Passarello helps us hear the sorrow, the epiglottis, and the Allegheny River in the many wondrous things the voice can do besides talking.”—Amy Leach“Elena Passarello's writing sings—and screams, quavers, and falls meditatively hushed—and this collection captures that startling range with the charm of the tracks on a crackling, spinning LP.”—Paul Collins“When I first read Elena Passarello's essay, ‘How to Spell the Rebel Yell’, I was so excited I pumped my fist in the air and let out a celebratory, ‘Yessssss!’ Her much-anticipated collection, Let Me Clear My Throat has that effect on the reader. This book is a stunning and exhilarating intellectual romp, each piece singing with the muscled verbal and emotional intensity of a great Sinatra song; it's both a Whitman-esque yawp and an elegant dance through the personal, natural, and cultural history of the irrepressible human voice. I love this book. It will teach you things, shake up what you thought you knew, and change the way you listen to the world around you. It might even make you want to holler.”—Steven Church“[Passarello has] an unwavering eye for detail. She tells the truth but tells it slant. Her essays momentarily unbalance us or demand that we look at the world or some aspect of it in a new way.”—Oregon State University Professor Jeff Miller