Musicophilia

In Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks's trademark compassion and erudition lift a curtain on the mystery of the human brain. Sacks shows us a variety of ways in which the brain becomes misaligned in response to music; among them: people with amusia, who aren't able to tell one symphony from another, but are able to play piano when they hear a piece they already know; an entire group of children with Williams syndrome—to whom a symphony sounds like pots and pans clanging together—and finally, there is the man who remembers everything but music and, who after being struck by lightning, suddenly desires to become a pianist at age 42.