Fascinating, unexpected and wonderful. I loved it. -- DAVID SHRIGLEY
Part intellectual history and part treasure hunt, as well as a manifesto for keeping curiosity alive . . . Beneath Byrne's restless eclecticism is a consistent argument: that our sense of what matters is never fixed. -- Johanna Thomas-Corr * * The Times * *
There's an international curriculum here that schools and universities would do well to champion: engage with science and with art, be open to play and to metaphor, consider all that is counterintuitive. * * The Guardian * *
Praise for How Music Works: 'Can alter how we look at ourselves and the world' * * Independent * *
Brilliantly original * * New York Times * *
It was wildly ambitious to try and turn this galaxy of theory into a readable work of scholarship but Byrne has done it, and done it with style. Brian Eno might as well cancel that book deal now * * Observer * *
An entertaining and erudite book . . . this is a serious, straight-forward account of an art from that also manages to be inspiring * * Financial Times * *
Given the vastness of the subject, calling a treatise How Music Works seems intellectually arrogant, but it could also be seen as disarmingly frank, a fresh perspective from a down-to-earth mind. David Byrne's book, although a self-conscious art object (backwards pagination, upholstered cover and so on) contains plenty of plain-spoken, sensible observations: a dichotomy typical of the man * * Guardian * *
Uplifting . . . A gorgeous exploration of ideas, art, invention and discoveries . . . He does it with such open-minded and infectious enthusiasm that it makes reading the book feel like you are taking part in the most wonderful conversation. * * Scotland on Sunday * *