"Despite the repetition of quotes and the overall 'theme and variations' feel to each section, Musicophilia is an intriguing book for anyone interested in music and brain function." Doug Brown, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review)
Synopses & Reviews
With the same trademark compassion and erudition he brought to
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks explores the place music occupies in the brain and how it affects the human condition. In
Musicophilia, he shows us a variety of what he calls “musical misalignments.” Among them: a man struck by lightning who suddenly desires to become a pianist at the age of forty-two; an entire group of children with Williams syndrome, who are hypermusical from birth; people with “amusia,” to whom a symphony sounds like the clattering of pots and pans; and a man whose memory spans only seven seconds-for everything but music.
Illuminating, inspiring, and utterly unforgettable, Musicophilia is Oliver Sacks' latest masterpiece.
Review:
“Readers will be grateful that Sacks . . . is happy to revel in phenomena that he cannot yet explain.”
The New York Times Book Review
Review:
“A gifted writer and a neurologist, Sacks spins one fascinating tale after another to show what happens when music and the brain mix it up.”
Newsweek
From the Hardcover edition.
Review:
“Sacks spins one fascinating tale after another to show what happens when music and the brain mix it up.”
Newsweek
Review:
“His work is luminous, original, and indispensable . . .
Musicophilia is a Chopin mazurka recital of a book, fast, inventive and weirdly beautiful . . . Yet what is most awe-inspiring is his observational empathy.”
American Scholar
Review:
“Powerful and compassionate. . . . A book that not only contributes to our understanding of the elusive magic of music but also illuminates the strange workings, and misfirings, of the human mind.”
The New York Times
Review:
“Sacks has an expert bedside manner: informed but humble, self-questioning, literary without being self-conscious.”
Los Angeles Times
Review:
“Sacks once again examines the many mysteries of a fascinating subject.”
The Seattle Times
Video
About the Author
Oliver Sacks is the author of
Awakenings,
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and many other books, for which he has received numerous awards, including the Hawthornden Prize, a Polk Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and lives in New York City, where he is a practicing neurologist. He recently accepted a new position at Columbia University.
www.oliversacks.com
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