Thousand Mile Song: Whale Music in a Sea of Sound [With CD]

by David Rothenberg

Book Overview

Whale song is an astonishing world of sound whose existence no one suspected before the 1960s. Its discovery has forced us to confront the possibility of alien intelligence-not in outer space but... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465071287
• ISBN13: 9780465071289
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Basic Books (AZ)
• Length: 287 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Great book!

The book is a great combination of interesting easy reading with lots of unusual educational content about whales

going deep

David Rothenberg continues to amaze us with his explorations into music, sound and nature. This work is both of this world and a world apart. An incredible book and CD.

A wonderful perspective

The Thousand MIle Song is a wonderful perspective of Whales from their songs. The CD included in the book creates a great multimedia experience. The author writes with a loose style that is engaging throughout the book. I never got bored. For parts of the book I listened to the CD while reading. That was fun!

Satisfying Read

I bought this book after hearing it described on a radio program. I'm very satisfied. Lately, I have trouble finding anything to hold my interest, but that was not a problem with this book. Overall, I found it a good blend of science, whimsy, and environmentalism.

many thousands of miles for a song

David has written a unique narrative of someone who is deeply and spiritually connected to nature and the animal world. His previous book on the songs of birds and why they sing as they do is one of the best in the literature on avian song, and this latest book goes beyond the scope of that book with a musical and mystical adventure into the obscure and mysterious world of the great whales. As one who has been fascinated with interspecies communication since reading John Lilly's books back in the 60's and 70's, I was impressed with David's approach to learning what it is to try and breach the void between the two most intelligent species on the planet. He combines the best discoveries of science and technology with a musician's understanding of the primeval common ground that exists in rhythm and sound, across all cultures and extending into the animal kingdom as well. He was willing to take some risks and tick off some activist and naturalist allies to get where he wanted to go with his search, and I think it paid off handsomely in the results and insight we can all gain from his book. The individuals he sought out in his extensive researching are among the foremost authorities in the field of cetacean studies, and he was able to harvest a wealth of both fact and opinion from them. The audio CD included with the book is an outstanding compilation of his attempts to participate in the making of oceanic music and on its own worth the price of his book. I highly recommend The Thousand Mile Song to anyone who wants to further their own insights into the essential nature of music, sound, and whale culture.