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Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

 
 
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
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Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

Music can move us to the heights or depths of emotion. It can persuade us to buy something, or remind us of our first date. It can lift us out of depression when nothing else can. It can get us dancing to its beat.  But the power of music goes much, much further. Indeed, music occupies more areas of our brain than language does—humans are a musical species.

Oliver Sacks’s compassionate, compelling tales of people struggling to adapt to different neurological conditions have fundamentally changed the way we think of our own brains, and of the human experience. In Musicophilia, he examines the powers of music through the individual experiences of patients, musicians, and everyday people—from a man who is struck by lightning and suddenly inspired to become a pianist at the age of forty-two, to an entire group of children with Williams syndrome, who are hypermusical from birth; from people with “amusia,” to whom a symphony sounds like the clattering of pots and pans, to a man whose memory spans only seven seconds—for everything but music.

Our exquisite sensitivity to music can sometimes go wrong: Sacks explores how catchy tunes can subject us to hours of mental replay, and how a surprising number of people acquire nonstop musical hallucinations that assault them night and day. Yet far more frequently, music goes right: Sacks describes how music can animate people with Parkinson’s disease who cannot otherwise move, give words to stroke patients who cannot otherwise speak, and calm and organize people whose memories are ravaged by Alzheimer’s or amnesia.

Music is irresistible, haunting, and unforgettable, and in Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks tells us why.

  • ISBN13: 9781400040810

  • Condition: New

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Product Details:
Author: Oliver Sacks
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Knopf
Publication Date: October 16, 2007
ISBN: 1400040817
Package Length: 8.4 inches
Package Width: 5.7 inches
Package Height: 1.5 inches
Package Weight: 1.2 pounds
Average Customer Rating: based on 134 reviews
 
 

Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Review:4.0
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2poorly editted  Sep 06, 2010
As usual with Sacks, the book is packed with many interesting cases and examples. However, they don't come together to make a coherent narrative. The book just doesn't "flow". It reads almost like a first draft. When the footer notes take up more space on the page than the actual text, and then spill over to take up most of the next page, too - it's time to re-write the chapter.

4Music, food for our brain  Aug 18, 2010
Dr. Sacks does a great job at helping us understand how our brain reacts to music. He identifies how important music is to all of us, though each of us interprets it differently. Intelligent reading!

0 of 4 found the following review helpful:

4gift for a friend  Jul 07, 2010
It looked like an interesting book, but I have not read it since it was a gift.

0 of 4 found the following review helpful:

5Haven't Received it yet  May 23, 2010
I ordered the book about 1 week prior to leaving the SF Bay Area on my way to our summer place in BC, Canada. I chose the vendor because it was in WA and had it sent to a friend in a neighboring town because I wanted to avoid Canadian customs (time consuming). When I got to my friends home it still had not arrived and did not arrive until a few weeks later. It is still sitting there; so, I haven't' seen it. I know the book as I have read part of it, a loaner from a friend, and look forward to receiving it and finishing that read. But the vendor sure did take a long time...I probably won't use it again.

0 of 1 found the following review helpful:

5Musicophilia  May 10, 2010
This is an interesting book for those who hear music in their ears.The author has many anecdotes and explains the brain, its complexity, and offers some insight into the problem, which apparently falls under Tinnitis. Sometimes the music is pleasant, sometimes not. There isn't much of a solution for the problem, but at least you realize you are not the only one, and are not crazy.

If you suffer from music hallucinations, read this book.It is easy to read.

 
 
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