About Michel Faber

Michael Faber has written nine books. In addition to the Whitbread-shortlisted Under the Skin, he is the author of the highly acclaimed The Crimson Petal and the White, The Book of Strange New Things, which was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award and won the 2015 Saltire Book of the Year, and most recently Undying, his first poetry collection. Born in Holland, brought up in Australia, he now lives in the UK. Listen is his first non-fiction book.

Image credit: Eva Youren

About Listen: On Music, Sound and Us

‘I’m not here to change your mind about Dusty Springfield or Shostakovich or Tupac Shakur or synthpop. I’m here to change your mind about your mind.’

There are countless books on music with much analysis given to musicians, bands, eras and/or genres. But rarely does a book delve into what’s going on inside us when we listen.

Michel Faber explores two big questions: how we listen to music and why we listen to music. To answer these he considers biology, age, illness, the notion of ‘cool’, commerce, the dichotomy between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ taste and, through extensive interviews with musicians, unlocks some surprising answers. From the award-winning author of The Crimson Petal and the White and Under the Skin, this curious and celebratory book reflects Michel Faber’s lifelong obsession with music of all kinds.

Listen will change your relationship with the heard world.

About Jude Rogers

Jude Rogers is author of The Sound Of Being Human, a memoir in twelve songs that delves deeply into the science of why music moves us.

Jude has written about arts and culture since 2003 for the Guardian, Observer, Sunday Times, Times Saturday Review, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman, The Word, MOJO, Q, NME, The Quietus, Wire and The Gentlewoman. She has made acclaimed documentaries for Radio 4, including the 2021 series ‘A Life in Music, and has interviewed artists from Paul McCartney to Dolly Parton, Damon Albarn to Billie Eilish, Laurie Anderson to Michael Stipe, Debbie Harry to the Pet Shop Boys.

Michel Faber: Listen