However, the too-frequent use of footnotes occasionally interrupts the narrative flow. There is an extensive bibliography for anyone interested in further reading. With frequent references to classical literature and historical figures, Dr Sacks provides a compendium of interesting facts and figures. He illustrates the neuroanatomic substrate of various musical symptoms, such as musical auras, musical hallucinations, and amusia. He makes a plea for the use of music therapy for patients with dementia, aphasia, parkinsonism, and stroke. He writes about the emergence of musical talent in patients with frontotemporal dementia, and the musical talents of children and adults with Williams syndrome. He presents fascinating case histories for example, the case of the orthopedic surgeon who was struck by lightning and subsequently became obsessed with music, to the point where he was constantly listening, playing, and even composing music (so-called musicophilia). He discusses the neuropathology of various medical conditions related to music, such as musician’s focal dystonia. He writes about common everyday phenomena (eg, “earworms,” in which a catchy tune keeps going through one’s mind). The music triggered many happy childhood memories, and he started to feel alive again.
One day he was walking down the street and heard a radio playing Schubert through an open basement window. He writes about the experience of feeling emotionally numb after his mother died. He does this by sharing his own personal history, followed by a series of clinical vignettes. In Musicophilia, the eminent neurologist Dr Oliver Sacks explores the important role that music plays in our lives and in the lives of our patients.
WEAKNESSES Footnotes interrupt narrative flow some case histories are repeated from his earlier book, An Anthropologist on MarsĪUDIENCE Musicians, music lovers, and medical practitioners with an interest in the correlation between music and neuroanatomy
STRENGTHS Well written erudite short chapters easy to read
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