| |  | Author: Daniel J. Levitin
Publisher: Pearson P T R
Category: Book
This item is no longer available
Avg. Customer Rating:  106 reviews
Sales Rank: 3596933
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 272
ISBN: 0131862642
Dewey Decimal Number: 612
EAN: 9780131862647
ASIN: 0131862642
Publication Date: May 12, 2006
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| Customer Reviews:
 Irritating June 30, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I, too, found the endless name-dropping endlessly irritating. As to the rest - I leave it to the more knowledgeable among us. However, I do recommend reading ALL the reviews before reading the book.
 great, a revelation June 24, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
As a professional musician and a medical doctor, I must say it is the best book on music - in all its facets - that I've ever read.
Amazing facts from a uniquely well-informed expert June 21, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The author is very experienced in both the relevant science, and the real music industry. I have a strong sense that he knows what he's talking about and is highly credible. The writing style is excellent. There were all kinds of facts in here that ranged from novel to amazing. This really does tell you important things about how psychoacoustics works, and has a lot of ideas and speculations (it's hard to prove) about the meaning and function of music in the human experience. I've been recommending this one to lots of my friends.
On the whole, not worthwhile June 8, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Like many of the negative reviewers, I found that *This Is Your Brain on Music* didn't enhance either my knowledge of music or of cognitive science. It's not without any substance, but that substance has been spread pretty thinly, and it offers one of the weakest evolutionary explanations for music as a human phenomenon: it demonstrates fitness because it indicates abundant amounts of free time. Perhaps this is true of the drive to perform, but what about the millions of people addicted to listening to music? Isn't music in some way *special* ? No one gets a painting "stuck in their head" for days as happens with music, and there doesn't seem to be a visual corollary to those stroke victims who can no longer speak--but who can still sing. To be sure, Levitin doesn't seem particularly interested in this, but this is part of the problem with the book. I also have to agree with reviewers that felt the book was disorganized and not compellingly written, but I never found Levitin to be particularly egocentric--I think he's making the case that he's well-qualified to discuss both the brain and music. Unfortunately, he doesn't convincingly do either, and the book's most memorable element is probably the title.
Very interesting May 25, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I am a musician and although I have not yet finished the book it has captivated me and helped me realize why I am the way I am and maybe why others are the way they are as far as music choices. God made us incredible!
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