This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

Book was purchased as a gift (a teacher) and they tell me it is most interesting. Thye plan tobuy several copies to give to students to understand the rythym of music.

and apparently this book is aimed at me, a member of the general public who, the author asserts, is an expert at listening to music, if not a musician. well, i am a biologist, so the neuroscience isn't new to me, and i have to say that i was hoping for deeper insights. in a nutshell, this would be a good book to browse at the library rather than to buy.
though perhaps to non-scientists the book is more interesting. i actually bought it for my boyfriend who, like the author, spent his adolescent years jamming (while i was reading). according to him, the author is trying a bit too hard to show off his music-cool, and he while the book is interesting, tales of adventure of wildlife biologists like alan rabinowitz are much more so . so, we'll stick with the three stars = browse before you buy.

As a musician I find this topic fascinating. The book does cover many interesting points and brings up ideas about how and why we react to music in the ways that we do. However, the authors errors in analyzing some of the music examples and forms throughout the book are flawed and drive someone like me nuts. If the author isn't an educated musician he should have spent more time with musicians researching some of the technical details of the music he examined. The book might try too hard to be all things to all people, and satisfies none. Too technical for the non-scientist, not technical enough for scientists, to musical for non-musicians, not deep enough for musicians.

This was a gift. The person who received thought it would be good reading.

I'm guessing that this book holds more interest to musicians than non-musicians. At least I'm hoping it does, since I gave it as a gift to a musician friend based on reading the cover jacket and 1st chapter.

I thought this book would be a more informative read that it turned out to be. As a non-musician, I hoped for more "everyman" insights, but mostly I just stumbled through the book. While I learned a few things, I didn't completely understand many of the concepts and examples presented.