Transported : the everyday magic of musical daydreams
Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis (Author)
"We've all had the experience: a song comes on, and suddenly we're not where we were. We're back in the past, or living out a future that never happened, or imagining a scene that never existed. In Transported, acclaimed music cognition researcher Elizabeth Margulis explores the phenomenon of musical daydreams-the vivid, spontaneous, emotionally redolent scenes, stories, and memories we lapse into while listening to music-and argues that these everyday reveries offer a powerful and underappreciated window into how we think, feel, and connect. Far from being private or random, our musical daydreams often follow common patterns, shaped by sound, memory, and culture. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience, psychology, ethnography, and revelations from her own teaching and research, Margulis shows how musical imaginings are not only widespread and meaningful-but also surprisingly shared across listeners. Debunking oversimplified myths like the "Mozart Effect," Transported illuminates music's true potential-to alleviate anxiety, reignite creativity, and foster connection in our fragmented, disconnected era-and invites readers to embrace their musical daydreams not as solitary quirks but as universal human phenomena waiting to be shared and discussed. At a time when distraction dominates, Transported makes a powerful case for music as one of the last spaces where the mind is still free to wander-and reminds us that these wanderings are more meaningful and more important to our individual and collective well-being than we've ever realized"-- Provided by publisher
Print Book, English, 2026
First edition
Liveright Publishing Corporation, New York, 2026