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Musicophilia

Tales of Music and the Brain

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Musicophilia

Written by: Oliver Sacks
Narrated by: John Lee
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About this listen

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. He 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.

©2007 Oliver Sacks (P)2007 Books on Tape
Music Psychology Human Brain Mental Health Alzheimer's Disease
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What the critics say

"[Sacks'] customary erudition and fellow-feeling ensure that, no matter how clinical the discussion becomes, it remains, like the music of Mozart, accessible and congenial." (Booklist)

“Dr. Sacks writes not just as a doctor and a scientist but also as a humanist with a philosophical and literary bent...[his] book not only contributes to our understanding of the elusive magic of music but also illuminates the strange workings, and misfirings, of the human mind.” (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

"Sacks is an unparalleled chronicler of modern medicine, and fans of his work will find much to enjoy when he turns his prodigious talent for observation to music and its relationship to the brain." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Musicophilia

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Wonderfully Touching

This book was so touching. I enjoyed it deeply, and remembered my Nana, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, but who would come back to herself with music.

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More about pathology than true musical love

I struggled to finish this, hoping it would get to something besides people with musically related pathologies. I liked "Your brain on music" a lot better and it was often referenced. I'm glad this was a free trial, I'd be really disappointed if I payed for it. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're really interested in dementia or pathology related to music.

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