Listening to Ghosts

by Bob Stockton

Listening To Ghosts is an accounting of the author's experience growing up in a Northeastern working class neighborhood and subsequent career as an enlisted man in the United States Navy before the Navy became an instrument for social engineering experimentation. Written in the first person the author takes the reader through his adventures - and misadventures - in frank, candid and politically incorrect language.

326 pages, Paperback

Published April 9, 2010

About the author

Bob Stockton was born in Trenton, New Jersey. Leaving school in his junior year Bob began a twenty year Navy career in 1957. During the course of that twenty year career Bob has sailed the seven seas while serving in surface vessels (destroyers), diesel electric submarines, auxiliary vessels, aircraft carriers, reconnaissance attack squadrons and patrol gunboats in Vietnam.

Following Navy retirement as a Chief Petty Officer, Bob has earned undergraduate and graduate degrees and has worked as a shipyard welder's helper, university adjunct graduate instructor, epidemiologist, pharmaceutical trainer, small business owner and radio host.

Bob currently receives full Veterans Administration disability compensation from exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam. He resides in Jacksonville, Florida in close proximity to his three children and three grandchildren.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listening to Ghosts by Bob Stockton offers a candid, personal account of a life shaped by working-class roots, military service, and the changing realities of the Cold War and Vietnam era. Through his recollections, Stockton takes readers from a blue-collar neighborhood in northeastern America into a twenty-year career in the United States Navy, sharing the adventures, misadventures, and experiences that shaped his journey.

One of the most distinctive aspects of this memoir is its frank, first-person storytelling. Stockton does not present his naval career as a polished sequence of heroic moments. Instead, he embraces the complications, unexpected turns, and realities of military life, using politically incorrect language and an unvarnished voice that reflect his own perspective. His service across destroyers, diesel-electric submarines, aircraft carriers, reconnaissance attack squadrons, and patrol gunboats in Vietnam gives readers a broad view of the different environments and responsibilities that defined his career.

The story also extends beyond military service. Stockton's journey from leaving high school during his junior year to retiring as a chief petty officer, pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees, and moving into a diverse range of civilian occupations adds another dimension to his memoir. His experiences illustrate how a person's life can take unexpected directions, with new challenges and opportunities emerging long after one chapter has ended. The second edition's revised chapters, additional illustrations, and previously unpublished material offer further insight into his recollections.

Readers interested in military memoirs, naval history, Vietnam-era experiences, and working-class American life may appreciate the perspective this book brings to a period of significant historical change. Listening to Ghosts is particularly notable for its emphasis on lived experience rather than a formal historical overview, giving readers an opportunity to encounter the past through one veteran's memories, observations, and distinctive voice.

[Ray Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Listening to Ghosts by Bob Stockton. But here’s the thing. I’m not quite sure why. I hope I can pinpoint some of the reasons why I like it by saying a little about what I usually read. In truth that would be just about everything. My mom was a librarian and I practically grew up in her library. I read everything but there is a decided bias towards action adventure and science-fiction. Listening to Ghosts is definitely not science-fiction or action-adventure. It is a memoir about a family is extraordinarily ordinary. I think the major attraction of Listening to Ghosts must be the writing. The people described are ordinary and commonly found. I know many like them even though I’m from a different part of America. But here’s the thing. The only thing ordinary people need in order to be extraordinary and let their true character shine is good writing. There is plenty of that in Listening to Ghosts.

Listening to Ghosts captures a particular moment in space and time. That is just about all a writer can do when he sits down to write about his life. I am a world traveler, but occasionally I visit home, but it is not really the home of my heart and mind. Things change. Things change dramatically, and sometimes home can deliver more culture shock than a foreign country. The best you can do is make a record of your time, and your place, and what it means to you. If and when I decide to do that I hope I can do it half as well as Bob Stockton. That would make it pretty damn good.

[Lisa M · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took my a little time to get through the book only because some of the navy terminology made me think a little harder! I think it's amazing when people can share their life experiences in a written format. Always makes me appreciate what the military families do for us and makes me proud! Thank you for sharing your story and thank you Goodreads for a copy of Listening to ghosts to review

[Marsinah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listening to Ghosts, while not a light read, is a very interesting read. The recollections and stories presented within the work are written in an easy, friendly style that makes you feel as if you're sitting at a table swapping tales with someone. A sense of self deprecating humor is often present as the author shares moments that may not always have been 100% flattering, but do show a life that has been very much lived. In the book, the author traces his beginnings from an "adventurous" childhood to his experiences and personal growth on and off base while enlisted in the US Navy. There are some very memorable moments recounted for us, some humorous, some poignant, and some nerve wracking. Perhaps it's a sign that I spent too much of my life working with young children, but the episode involving a submarine being "decorated" by a whale leaves me wondering what kind of ribbing her crew might have received back in port at Key West over the incident.

(Won this book through a goodreads giveaway and glad I was one of the lucky ones chosen to read it.)

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!!

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listening to Ghosts seems to be a narrative concocted from the author's daily diaries - a detailed description of his daily life in the Navy with lots of naval terminology and jargon.