Home / Humanities / Arts/Music / Music / Transported: The Everyday Magic of Musical Daydreams

Transported: The Everyday Magic of Musical Daydreams

AUTHOR
Price
€27.70
€30.80 -10%
Available
Delivery 1-3 days

Add to wishlist

Music: it’s not only the soundtrack to our lives, but shapes who we are – conjuring memories, emotions, dreams, fantasies

 

‘Elegant and accessible.’ Daniel J. Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain on Music

 

But why is it so evocative? There’s no logical reason why a rousing, percussive tune should invoke swashbuckling pirates, or a slow melody on the flute remind you of a summer day from childhood. And yet, as research shows, it consistently does – and what’s more, if you hear pirates, others likely hear pirates as well.

 

For all that listening to music can feel like an intensely subjective experience, it holds objective, measurable power over the way our brains function. Exploring the strange and magical science of music perception, musician and psychologist Elizabeth Margulis examines the nature of ‘musical daydreams’. From the intense link between music and memory (music is more likely to prompt Proustian-style flashbacks than food, madeleines or otherwise) to why you keep returning to the music you loved at sixteen – and for that matter, the music your parents loved at sixteen – Transported reveals the compelling new science behind why music is so integral to who we are.

 

‘Timely… there couldn’t be a better moment to explore the power of music to free our minds, inspire our imaginations, and awaken lost memories.’ Renée Fleming

 

‘Fascinating… Her book is the message in a bottle, urging us to connect more deeply with our inattention.’ Wall Street Journal

Author: Margulis Elizabeth
Publisher: ONEWORLD PUBLICATIONS
Pages: 240
ISBN: 9781836431732
Cover: Hardback
Edition Number: 1
Release Year: 2026

Elizabeth Margulis is Professor of Music, with affiliate appointments in Psychology and Neuroscience, at Princeton University, where she directs the Music Cognition Lab. Her research has been featured on Netflix’s Music: Explained and NPR’s All Things Considered, alongside the New York Times and BBC. She is the author of On Repeat and The Psychology of Music, which has been translated into six languages.

You may also like

Newsletter

Subscribe to the newsletter to be the first to receive our new releases and offers
Your account Your wishlist