From here in my stereo room, in my day basement ten steps down from my entry hallway, much can seem perfect if I close my eyes and just listen. I’ve all my gear arranged in front of me, across the immaculate, midnight-blue Chinese carpet and against the acoustic-paneled wall opposite where I sit in my leather club chair—an

Garrett, your new book The Perfect Sound: An Autobiography in Stereo is poised to come out as we conduct this interview, but I’ve been privileged to watch it grow for the past several years—from its initial impulse, which as I recall was going to be a lyrical history of the vacuum tube, to its final form, a much

The Key of Life Garrett Hongo’s The Perfect Sound: A Memoir in Stereo is a symphony in words nearly impossible to encapsulate. [It] is not a single narrative but rather several narratives in one: a history of music and recording across time and genre; a son’s reminiscence of his father; a social history of California, Hawaii, and America

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A poet’s audio obsession, from his earliest vinyl to his quest for the ideal vacuum tubes, as he strives to make both sound and sense of his life. Buy it at Penguin Random House.