Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Revised and Expanded Edition

My sister recommended this book to me. She and I are both musicians, she as a baritone horn and piano player and I as a dance and jazz band sax/clarinet/vibes player. Dr. Sacks is a very informative and amusing writer with a wealth of exprience.

I have always liked Oliver Sacks' writing. His mix of clinical
observation, erudite philosphical musings, combined with the
deep empathy for the patients he describes is unique. However,
this book is quite different from his previous offerings since he
chooses a single underlying theme. It would appear that the
cases discussed and conclusions drawn would be more limited
than the far ranging examples in his previous books.

Yet, if anything, the opposite is true. He delves deeply into
this, some would say, inessential human endeavor, and shows
how intricately it is interwoven with everything else that makes
us human. In doing so he illustrates, perhaps better than in
any of his previous works, how complex our minds truly are.

The first story in the book, which appeared in the New Yorker
several months before publication, really sold me on the book.
I was somewhat disappointed with the next few pieces, which
were a bit of a letdown. However, the book soon picks up, and
the second half is as good as anything he has written before.
He does revisit several of his earlier case studies, however he
casts them in a new light.

Read the first story on the New Yorker website. If you like it,
you will enjoy the book

This book is written from the perspective of Oliver Sacks, a psychologist for many decades. He writes of the the multitudinous experiences of people with musical aspects that he has come across, both in his practise, and in people who have made contact with him. It is riveting reading for me as a musician with some minor neurological dysfunction at times as well as perfect pitch, to hear of many stories of people who have similar status, and what Sacks has been able to discover.

I just received today. This is the kind of book you can start to read anywhere and be engrossed. I completely admit that some of is too clinical and somewhat difficult to understand, however, most of it is absolutely fasinating. I highly recommend this if you have any interest at all in music and the brain. I always appreciate the ancedotes and Sack's does not scrimp. Highly recommended.

At first this was a bit more clinical than I expected, then I warmed up to it. I was interested as a musician and someone interested also in cognitive processes. I had hoped to gain insight into some of the functioning of my husband's musical mind post-coma, but I also gained insight into my own musical mind post-concussion.... as in, maybe it had something to do with my taking up music again after 20 years of silence. So for the first time I had a bit of gratitude for the experience.
Lee & I both did a significant amount of self-rehabilitation; it would be nice if more professionals took heed of music's role in healing the brain.