Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
by: Oliver Sacks
List Price: $26.00
Prices subject to change.
Price: $17.16
You Save: $8.84 (34%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Amazon.com Review:
Amazon Best of the Month, December 2007: Legendary R&B icon Ray Charles claimed that he was "born with music inside me," and neurologist Oliver Sacks believes Ray may have been right. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain examines the extreme effects of music on the human brain and how lives can be utterly transformed by the simplest of harmonies. With clinical studies covering the tragic (individuals afflicted by an inability to connect with any melody) and triumphant (Alzheimer's patients who find order and comfort through music), Sacks provides an erudite look at the notion that humans are truly a "musical species." --Dave Callanan
Product Description:
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.
Amazon Best of the Month, December 2007: Legendary R&B icon Ray Charles claimed that he was "born with music inside me," and neurologist Oliver Sacks believes Ray may have been right. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain examines the extreme effects of music on the human brain and how lives can be utterly transformed by the simplest of harmonies. With clinical studies covering the tragic (individuals afflicted by an inability to connect with any melody) and triumphant (Alzheimer's patients who find order and comfort through music), Sacks provides an erudite look at the notion that humans are truly a "musical species." --Dave Callanan
Product Description:
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.
Alternate Versions:
Related Items:
Browse for similar items by category:
- Books » Specialty Stores » Custom Stores » Qualifying Textbooks » General AAS
- Books » Subjects » Entertainment » Music » Theory, Composition & Performance » Appreciation
- Books » Subjects » Health, Mind & Body » Psychology & Counseling » Creativity & Genius
- Books » Subjects » Health, Mind & Body » Psychology & Counseling » Neuropsychology
- Books » Subjects » Health, Mind & Body » Psychology & Counseling » General
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- If you've read Sacks and loved it, you'll be disappointed...
Perhaps the "revised and Expanded Edition" has overcome the original failings of repetition and failure to hold together. This book felt link a compendium of short articles.
Rating: 
- Needs editing
My wife thoughtfully purchased this book for me.I had read about it and was very excited to dive right in.Unfortunately I ended up really having to convince myself to finish it, as it became redundant fairly quickly.Sacks presents (too) many case studies regarding music and the brain, but the presentation feels random and somewhat unfocused.Had his editor suggested grouping the studies by themes or urged Sacks to provide more neurological background information it perhaps would have better ... Read More
Rating: 
- An Insightful Book
"Music hath qualities to charm the savage breast."
Congreve's familiar line reiterates the legend of Orpheus who used music to control nature and living creatures.
Whether true or not is a matter of conjecture. But there is a rising body of evidence music stimulates intellect and eases the learning process. And Oliver Sacks, the famed neurologist, enforces that argument in his new book, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. He also stresses the healing power of music. ... Read More
Rating: - understanding brain musicality
Mr. Stack has made an important contribution to the fascinating world of brain working , it helps to understand the enormous possibilities inside us
Rating: - Considering the part music plays in the recovery of extremely mentality disabled patients
Considering the part music plays in the recovery of extremely mentality disabled patients, which is not a new phenomenon, it has recently been explored once again by Oliver Sacks, physician and author, in his new book Musicophilia Tales of Music and the Brain.
There are remarkable examples of patients who were considered feeble, unable to care for themselves, unable to walk or do anything other than sit, and yet these same people when exposed to music were able to astonish those who cared ... Read More
- If you've read Sacks and loved it, you'll be disappointed...Perhaps the "revised and Expanded Edition" has overcome the original failings of repetition and failure to hold together. This book felt link a compendium of short articles.
- Needs editingMy wife thoughtfully purchased this book for me.I had read about it and was very excited to dive right in.Unfortunately I ended up really having to convince myself to finish it, as it became redundant fairly quickly.Sacks presents (too) many case studies regarding music and the brain, but the presentation feels random and somewhat unfocused.Had his editor suggested grouping the studies by themes or urged Sacks to provide more neurological background information it perhaps would have better ... Read More
- An Insightful Book"Music hath qualities to charm the savage breast."
Congreve's familiar line reiterates the legend of Orpheus who used music to control nature and living creatures.
Whether true or not is a matter of conjecture. But there is a rising body of evidence music stimulates intellect and eases the learning process. And Oliver Sacks, the famed neurologist, enforces that argument in his new book, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. He also stresses the healing power of music. ... Read More
- understanding brain musicalityMr. Stack has made an important contribution to the fascinating world of brain working , it helps to understand the enormous possibilities inside us
- Considering the part music plays in the recovery of extremely mentality disabled patientsConsidering the part music plays in the recovery of extremely mentality disabled patients, which is not a new phenomenon, it has recently been explored once again by Oliver Sacks, physician and author, in his new book Musicophilia Tales of Music and the Brain.
There are remarkable examples of patients who were considered feeble, unable to care for themselves, unable to walk or do anything other than sit, and yet these same people when exposed to music were able to astonish those who cared ... Read More
