The Human Voice: The Story of a Remarkable Talent

New
Paperback
2007
$9.03

Why has the female voice deepened over the last fifty years? Who talks more, men or women? How can a baby in the womb distinguish between different voices? The human voice is the personal and social glue that binds us, and the most important sound in our lives. The moment we open our mouth we leak information about our biological, psychological and social status. Babies use it to establish emotional ties and acquire language, adults to decode mood and meaning in intimate and professional relationships. Far from being rendered redundant by modern technology, the human voice has enormous and enduring significance.

Synopsis

Why has the female voice deepened over the last fifty years? Who talks more, men or women? How can a baby in the womb distinguish between different voices? The human voice is the personal and social glue that binds us, and the most important sound in our lives. The moment we open our mouth we leak information about our biological, psychological and social status. Babies use it to establish emotional ties and acquire language, adults to decode mood and meaning in intimate and professional relationships. Far from being rendered redundant by modern technology, the human voice has enormous and enduring significance.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 416
Edition: New edition
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: 16 Jul 2007
ISBN 10: 0747585377
ISBN 13: 9780747585374
Book Overview: For fans of Malcolm Gladwell's Blink and Steven Pinker's The Language Institute Author is a popular and well-established journalist whose book The War After: Living with the Holocaust, about growing up in London as the child of Holocaust survivors, was highly praised for its insights and the quality of its writing.

Media Reviews

'Thrilling ... crammed with fact, incident, anecdote and research' Fiona Shaw 'The voice is fundamental, intimate and difficult. There could hardly be a better subject for a book' Independent 'Enthralling ... A masterclass in our most revealing characteristic' Joanna Lumley 'Karpf describes the unimaginably complex physical system by which our vocal orchestra achieves its effects in astounding detail ... a salutary reminder of how little we lords of creation understand of the way in which this highly sophisticated equipment of ours actually works' Guardian

Author Bio

Anne Karpf is a British writer, journalist and sociologist. Born in London to Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivors, she studied at Oxford, and then worked in BBC Television. She has been a contributing editor to Cosmopolitan, a book reviewer for The Times, and for seven years was radio critic of the Guardian. After gaining a postgraduate degree in the Sociology of Health and Illness, she taught medical students at London University. Now a columnist for the Jewish Chronicle, she broadcasts regularly on BBC radio and television, and writes for many national newspapers on women, health, social, political, and Jewish issues. She lives in London and has two daughters.