This Is the Voice

The book is well-written, informative, and interesting. And for someone with chronic voice problems, both helpful to me in understanding my challenges better, and nice for the shared stories of others including author and several famous people with chronic voice problems. But whoever generates the index at the back of the book..... interesting choice (I say sarcastically) to leave out "code switching," an important aspect of voice, which the author does cover, when lesser items are included in the index.

For anyone who is interested in language, this is a fantastic book. The audio version is also great - I have listened to it more than once, and learned a lot about how language and linguistics.

I never thought about the human voice as a subject in itself. Singing, yes, and oratory, and diction, and all the other things people do with voices - but those are just the passengers, and the voice is the vehicle.This wide-ranging survey addresses how the human voice evolved, and why - along the way, becoming a thorn in the side to Chomsky-esque ideas about which came first, language or speech. It discusses the physiology of voice, including differences between men and women, and all people of different ages. (The unfortunate castrati become part of this.) It even goes into abuses of voice, like the demagogic harangues of recent memory, and how they invoke raw emotion that batters reason unconscious.I can't say I'll do anything differently having read this, but it's well-written, widely researched, and an interesting approach to a wonderfully human feature.-- wiredweird

I thought this book was going to be about the vocal problems faced by singers, which is how the book begins. But then the author gives us a variety of chapters on how humans have used the speaking and singing voice over history — to delight, inspire, and persuade. It’s a well written book, but it merely glosses over a number of (albeit interesting) topics, thought none in any sort of definitive way.

If you're interested in the voice, this is a great book, Colapinto has great resources of important information about the human voice.

This is the best book I have read in a very long time, and as an English teacher for 36 years, I read a lot of books. It is personal and scholarly, impassioned and scientific, focused but wide-ranging. This book grounds the voice in a common humanity and synthesizes diverse fields of study, from rock and roll to politics to Chompskian linguistics. I realize this is my field, but I honestly cannot imagine anyone finding this book anything but fascinating. The most immediate comparison that comes to mind is Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct, although the author takes issue with some conclusions of that book. A brilliant, passionate book!

Fantastic book- shipped without any damage.

In a past life, I worked as an editor for a trade magazine devoted to the then nascent speech recognition industry. When I came across this book, I felt I had to get it. While I enjoyed it and found much to admire, I also sometimes felt like I was struggling to complete a homework assignment. Early sections of the book do discuss speech recognition and the attempts to make machines speak and interact with people. I found much of this difficult to follow, largely because of the style of the writing. Sections of the book were almost obstructionist, with sentences circling around and around the point, drifting off, starting off in another direction, then finally not stopping so much as just dying out. As the book progressed and the subject matter became less technical, either the author tightened up his approach, or I got used to it. I have to say it was much more of a problem in the first half of the book than the second. When he is talking about the power of the spoken word, for example, the author is pretty interesting. I will say it is good that an entire book is devoted to the voice. It certainly warrants it.

This is a seriously good book which tries to answer that question about language through many different angles by explaining in very simple terms ideas posited by Darwin, Chomsky, Lieberman, Scherer and so many more. The role of genetics, conditioning, physiology and most of all evolution on our pitch, tone, speed and so many more things. It is an easy read, at times it seems to drag on a bit, and then the author pulls you right back and the action goes on. This is not a book for specialists I think given the generalizations, and author's own preferred thought, but it is one of those books that answers tough questions in a very simple and approachable language. If there ever was a must read....

It was sent as a gift.