In her new book, In Praise of Listening, Christian McEwen reflects on listening (silence, music, nature, prayer, &c.) in a series of thoughtful chapters, each one focused on a different theme. When an athlete speaks of "listening to his body," or a gardener describes herself as "listening to the land," when writers and artists explain that they are "listening" to their work-in-progress, they are using the word as she chooses to use it here--as...