A truly fascinating and eye-opening account of a phenomenon so commonplace we barely think about it, yet one which is also mind-bogglingly complicated. Once you've read The Music Instinct, you'll never listed to music the same way again

Remarkable capacity to use words to open our ears

I defy anyone to read this book without coming away better informed about why music affects us in such a profound way... His passion for music is evident on every page, and his enthusiasms are infectious.

If you try listening to music after reading this book, you'll probably hear it differently - more knowingly, even

This book surveys current thinking and tells you why music rocks

In the world of technologists, Jaron Lanier is that rare combination: a pioneer and a skeptic. A legendary computer scientist, he did crucial early work in the field of virtual reality (the phrase is his). But he now recoils at the way Web 2.0 and social media sell us short as human beings, both in our relationships and in our sense of who we are. In purposeful, reasoned steps, always informed by a profound understanding of how software really works, he lays out his vision of where it all went wrong and champions the power of the human brain in an age of ever smarter machines.

Eye-opening and hugely enjoyable book ... overall this is an original, surprising and rather wonderful addition to our literature of place

A book that begs us to use our imaginations; to appreciate what we pass by every day but never really see

This is a delightful and important book. By focusing on the fringes, on the shabby reality of suburban life, these poets remind us that there are always new myths for old, that the 'edgelands' may even be our true centre

With chapters on paths, dens, wastelands, business parks and many other topics, this book has opened my eyes to all kinds of things I might not have noticed before

A 2011 favourite

The year's most unusual travel book

[An] eye-opening and hugely enjoyable book

Written in a delectable prose that scatters flashes of poetry over a sardonic undertow of social comment, Edgelands is a lyrical triumph. On Britain’s grotty margins, the duo trace “desire paths” to find beauty and mystery in the rough darkness on the edge of town