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A Book of Noises

A Book of Noises

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$24.00

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A wide-ranging exploration of the sounds that shape our world in invisible yet significant ways. The crackling of a campfire. The scratch, hiss, and pop of a vinyl record. The first glug of wine as it is poured from a bottle. These are just a few of writer Caspar Henderson’s favorite sounds. In A Book of Noises, Henderson invites readers to use their ears a little better—to tune in to the world in all its surprising noisiness.
 
Describing sounds from around the natural and human world, the forty-eight essays that make up A Book of Noises are a celebration of all things “auraculous.” Henderson calls on his characteristic curiosity to explore sounds related to humans (anthropophony), other life (biophony), the planet (geophony), and space (cosmophony). Henderson finds the beauty in everyday sounds, like the ringing of a bell, the buzz of a bee, or the “earworm” songs that get stuck in our heads. A Book of Noises also explores the marvelous, miraculous sounds we may never get the chance to hear, like the deep boom of a volcano or the quiet, rustling sound of the Northern Lights.
 
A Book of Noises will teach readers to really listen to the sounds of the world around them, to broaden and deepen their appreciation of the humans, animals, rocks, and trees simultaneously broadcasting across the whole spectrum of sentience. Caspar Henderson is a writer and journalist living in Oxford, England. He is the author of The Book of Barely Imagined Beings and A New Map of Wonders, both published by the University of Chicago Press. As a journalist, he covers topics such as energy, science, environment, and human rights. Introduction
 
Cosmophony: Sounds of Space First Sounds
Resonance (1)
Sound in Space
Music of the Spheres (1)
Music of the Spheres (2)
The Golden Record
 
Geophony: Sounds of Earth Rhythm (1) – Planet Waves
The Loudest Sound
The Northern Lights
Volcano
Thunder
Listening to a Rainbow
 
Biophony: Sounds of Life Rhythm (2) – Body
Hearing
Ancient Animal Noises
Plant
Insect
Bee
Frog
Bat
Elephant
The Thousand- mile Song of the Whale
Leviathan, or the Sperm Whale
Blackbird
Owl
Nightingale
 
Anthropophony: Sounds of Humanity Rhythm (3) – Music and Dance
Onomatopoeia
How Language Began
The Magic Flute
The Nature of Music
Harmony
Strange Musical Instruments
Sad Songs
Bashō
Visible Sound
Plato’s Cave
Earworms
Noise Pollution
The Sounds of Climate Change
Hell
Healing with Music
Healing with Sound
Bells
Resonance (2)
Frontiers
Silence
Some Good Sounds
 
ThanksReferences and Further ReadingPermissionsIndex  

“You will gasp with surprise and sigh with delight over the pages of A Book of Noises. It is the most elegant and erudite history of the world as sound ever written.”
“A feast for the ears, mind, and spirit. Henderson not only celebrates the marvels of sound but also offers wonderfully original reflections on the relationships among music, science, and the living world. A delightful and generative invitation to deeper listening.”
“By turns haunting and captivating, A Book of Noises is a marvel of curiosity and elegant storytelling. Caspar Henderson confirms that, for all its turbulence, this is still ‘a world alive with good noises.’ Open your ears.”
“A book of exquisite richness and erudition, dedicated equally to the beautiful strange and the precious ordinary.”
“Caspar Henderson’s books are a special kind of treasure; I struggle to think of another writer who achieves this combination of scope, intellectual rigour, and deep reflection with such grace and style. Don’t be deceived by the title—far from being a noisy book, this is a quiet and determined call to listen better.” 
“Magnificent, bravura, beautiful and astoundingly interesting.”
“Spell-binding, brilliantly executed, extraordinary.”

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Dimensions 1 × 6 × 9 in