Oxford University Press, ISBN-13: 978-0190460167, English, 880 pages, 2019, UK

Five years in the making, this heavy tome is the first of two volumes investigating sound and imagination from a true multidisciplinary perspective (from psychoacoustics to computer games, from musicology to literature and more). This volume features the first 39 chapters, divided into five sections. “Foundations” includes theoretical positions about imagination and sounds; “Society and Identity” explores the social and legal boundaries of the topic, including communities’ control and censorship; “Language” investigates topics such as poetry, sound collages and voice; “Image” examines the use of sound in cinematic and static forms (such as movies and comics); while “Space and Place“ features different approaches to the consequences of sound perception in both physical and virtual places. Despite its vastness, it’s a consistent universe of knowledge, where the essences of sounds are considered through their own systems and practices. Our ability to elaborate enriched information, like sonic vibrations, in speculative ways, leads to a number of unexpected consequences, whose powerful effects on our awareness of reality are thoroughly researched here. This is a long and fascinating journey into sound, music and consciousness.