10-20-2007, 04:35 PM
I heard a very interesting interview with Oliver Sacks the other day on "Fresh Air' on NPR. Sacks, a neurologist, has written many books containing case histories of "differently brained" people. One of his most famous books, "Awakenings," was made into a movie with Robin Williams and Robert DeNiro.
Sacks was on "Fresh Air" to talk about his new book "Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain." In Musicophilia, he examines the powers of music through the individual experiences of patients, musicians, and everyday people—from a man who is struck by lightning and suddenly inspired to become a pianist at the age of forty-two, to an entire group of children with Williams syndrome, who are hypermusical from birth; from people with “amusia,” to whom a symphony sounds like the clattering of pots and pans, to a man whose memory spans only seven seconds—for everything but music.
I found the interview and the subject fascinating and hope to pick up the book soon.
Amazon has some video clips of Dr. Sacks discussing parts of his book.
http://www.amazon.com/Musicophilia-Tales...462&sr=8-1
Sacks was on "Fresh Air" to talk about his new book "Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain." In Musicophilia, he examines the powers of music through the individual experiences of patients, musicians, and everyday people—from a man who is struck by lightning and suddenly inspired to become a pianist at the age of forty-two, to an entire group of children with Williams syndrome, who are hypermusical from birth; from people with “amusia,” to whom a symphony sounds like the clattering of pots and pans, to a man whose memory spans only seven seconds—for everything but music.
I found the interview and the subject fascinating and hope to pick up the book soon.
Amazon has some video clips of Dr. Sacks discussing parts of his book.
http://www.amazon.com/Musicophilia-Tales...462&sr=8-1