I really enjoyed (paid link) Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks. It was certainly an interesting topic.
Oliver Sacks writes in an amusing, but very informative style. It is very well written and covers all manner of different mental conditions that affect the ability to hear or appreciate music as others do.
There were all manner of different conditions that I had no idea existed,
Just imagine if the sound of a symphony is the clattering of pots and pans to you, or you can remember music but have no other memory longer than seven seconds.
In some ways it was quite frightening to hear that these kids of conditions actually existed and that people suffered from them.
The book is filled with many, many case studies of the experiences and conditions of many people, all elucidated with compassion, thoughtfulness, intelligence, and not a small dose of humor.
Oliver Sacks, M.D. is a neurologist, as well as a professor of clinical neurology at NYU’s medical school and so is eminently qualified to take us on this journey inside the mind and on a journey of discovery of the many music related conditions that exist in both the positive and negative.
I would highly recommend this book.
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