See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

22 used & new from £4.82
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (Hardcover)

by Oliver Sacks (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


8 new from £4.82 13 used from £5.00 1 collectible from £50.00
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (1) 14 used & new from £11.75
Paperback £8.99 £5.39 33 used & new from £1.60

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

This is Your Brain on Music: Understanding a Human Obsession

This is Your Brain on Music: Understanding a Human Obsession

by Daniel J. Levitin
3.8 out of 5 stars (8)  £5.39
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Picador)

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Picador)

by Oliver Sacks
4.1 out of 5 stars (28)  £4.79
The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century

The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century

by Alex Ross
4.5 out of 5 stars (28)  £7.49
An Anthropologist on Mars

An Anthropologist on Mars

by Oliver Sacks
3.7 out of 5 stars (3)  £6.69
Seeing Voices

Seeing Voices

by Oliver Sacks
5.0 out of 5 stars (3)  £6.99
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Picador; 2007 Publication edition (2 Nov 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0330418378
  • ISBN-13: 978-0330418379
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.8 x 4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 44,672 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
Unlimited Music Access
   www.vodafonemusic.co.uk    2.2 Million Songs For £1.95 A Week Never Get Bored With Your Music! 
  
 

Product Description

Irish Times
'Rich and informative...Musicophiliam,which is Sack's trademark, some of the most extraordinary cases histories I've ever heard.'


Sunday Herald
'These are among the most effective and beautifully written human narratives since Sigmund Freud's case studies.'

See all Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
73% buy the item featured on this page:
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain 3.6 out of 5 stars (14)
This is Your Brain on Music: Understanding a Human Obsession
9% buy
This is Your Brain on Music: Understanding a Human Obsession 3.8 out of 5 stars (8)
£5.39
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Picador)
9% buy
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Picador) 4.1 out of 5 stars (28)
£4.79
The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century
6% buy
The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century 4.5 out of 5 stars (28)
£7.49
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
48 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing introspection, 29 Jan 2008
By Piaf Carl - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
While I have been a fan of Oliver Sacks, I am beginning to realise that a lot of his books seem to be constructed so that they can be easily divided into magazine articles (or they at least appear that way). I have read the first few chapters of Musicophilia only so far and to be totally honest, as a musician with training in the neurosciences, I found it interesting as a subject. However, the book is not well written. It has long segments of rather egocentric introspection and navel gazing. I wish it would focus more on the case studies and have a much more consistent approach to the subject. It is convoluted in parts and much of it seems to lose it's thread and drift into talking about other things, especially at the end of chapters. While Oliver Sacks is undoubtedly an intelligent man, I think that maybe he has neglected the advice of editors and been allowed to do so because he has sold so many books in the past. I bought the book in hardback and actually regret spending so much on it.
Comment Comments (2) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A little clunky, 10 Feb 2008
By doublegone (scotland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
I got quite excited when I read articles about this book. It has not really lived up to my expectations.

It tells you about people who hear music in their heads, people with perfect pitch who lose it and vice versa, people with tinnitus and so on. The trouble for me was that in the end it becomes just a big long list of notes on the patients Sachs has treated. I could have used a bit more context, or even philosophical speculation and wonder. But the author is a medical man so he confines himself pretty much to the facts. And he reams them out - the patient experienced this, the patient reacted like that....

Its fascinating material but in all honesty the book is not well written. It is more academic than I had expected. Of course some people will prefer that. I didn't.

Some of the snippets I read in reviews and magazine articles were quite intriguing, but when I got to the full book I found that many of them remained snippets - a footnote about a piece of shrapnel in Shostakovich's head is a good example. Its just a couple of sentences and you want to know more about it but you are left unfulfilled.

Maybe I had too high expectations of this book. I don't want to be too negative as its a perfectly OK book. Its just not anything like as interesting as it appears.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Worth a read, 10 Nov 2008
By Fredward Beasley (West of Ireland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (Paperback)
This is a pretty good book, of interest to anyone who feels themselves somewhat musicophiliac and wants to know more about how music has the effect it does. Musicophilia isn't particularly focused and doesn't really go too deep into how music works on the brain, it's mostly just a string of case studies of people and conditions involving strange and intense relationships with music. It's well-written and accessible, and worth a read, though it doesn't attempt to give any major insights into why music is so important to people in general.

"Musicophilia" is preferable to "This is your Brain on Music" by Daniel Levitin, which was released around the same time and deals with somewhat similar themes, though Levitin's book includes much more technical info on music and neurology. This info is presented in a style that is dry, unengaging and lacking in clarity. Sacks on the other hand is an effortlessly good writer. For that reason, this book is worth reading, though it would have benefitted from greater cohesion, a more focused approach and some general theorizing along with the case studies.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Underwhelmed
I've heard of Oliver Sacks although this is the first book of his I have read. I agree with the reviewer who feels there just isn't enough to sustain 400-odd pages of interest... Read more
Published 5 months ago by urban fox

2.0 out of 5 stars Musicophilia (2008) by Oliver Sacks
It has taken me nearly six weeks to wade through only the first third of this marathon of almost 400 pages. And the reason? Read more
Published 6 months ago by Whigwood

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, yet disappointing in many ways
Oliver Sacks tells wonderful stories about how patients with severe brain dysfunctions manage to recover their faculties through new treatments of various kinds, and his previous... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Lazy Lee

4.0 out of 5 stars better than most medical writing
Having both a strong interest in music and a medical training, this book greatly appealed to me. Sacks is also a good speaker, and although I would have bought this book anyway,... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Talc Demon

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as I had hoped
Really read like a collection of articles - slightly repetitious, surprisingly little engagement with the depth of the topic. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jezza

5.0 out of 5 stars Minds making music
By now, it's a given that an Oliver Sacks' book is worth your time and close attention. His particular talent lies in making the science interesting without becoming a... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Stephen A. Haines

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I am usually a fan of Oliver Sacks but this is a disappointing book. I am about halfway through and on the verge of putting it down, although will perservere as it's a fast read... Read more
Published 12 months ago by fionaville

5.0 out of 5 stars A Music-Loving Neurologist Tells Us About Extreme Forms of Musical Interaction
Musicophilia made me realize how others perceive music. It was a shock. I assumed that everyone experienced music the same way. Wrong! Read more
Published 17 months ago by Professor Donald Mitchell

5.0 out of 5 stars A Music-Loving Neurologist Tells Us About Extreme Forms of Musical Interaction
Musicophilia made me realize how others perceive music. It was a shock. I assumed that everyone experienced music the same way. Wrong! Read more
Published 17 months ago by Professor Donald Mitchell

5.0 out of 5 stars A Music-Loving Neurologist Tells Us About Extreme Forms of Musical Interaction
Musicophilia made me realize how others perceive music. It was a shock. I assumed that everyone experienced music the same way. Wrong! Read more
Published 17 months ago by Professor Donald Mitchell

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]

   

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject











i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Fun for Everyone

Christmas Gifts
Achieve over 15,000 RPM with our great range of Powerballs.

›Shop the Powerball store

  

More From Oliver Sacks

The Man Who...

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

Oliver Sacks was educated in London, Oxford, California and New York. Read more
£7.99 £4.79

 

Up to 53% off Braun Series Shavers

Braun Series 3 390cc Clean & Renew System Rechargeable Foil Electric Shaver
Get in touch with your smooth side with Braun Series shavers, now with Gillette blade technology.

›Discover Braun Series at Amazon.co.uk

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates