'A humane discourse on the fragility of our minds, of the bodies that give rise
to them, and of the world they create for us.' "Daily Telegraph"
Oliver Sacks' compassionate tales of people struggling to adapt to different
neurological conditions have fundamentally changed the way we understand our own
minds. In "Musicophilia," he examines the powers of music through the individual
experiences of patients, musicians and everyday people - those struck by
affliction, unusual talent and even, in one case, by lightning - to show not
only that music occupies more areas of the brain than language does, but also
that it can calm