I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. This is a fascinating subject explained really well.

Wonderful book about the human voice. So important, but not studied or written about enough. Very well written and researched. So interesting and told in an engaging manner, I certainly wanted to keep going. Lays out the research in clear ways and filled with interesting factoids.

We use our voices each day, but how often do you stop to think about yours? Maybe when you lose your voice from a cold, or when you hear an audio recording of yourself and think - do I actually sound like that?! For author John Colapinto, his voice odyssey started in a rock band. He loved singing, giving 100% even in rehearsal, until he noticed he couldn't. He even developed postural changes in his neck to try to compensate before being diagnosed with a polyp on his vocal cords. After realizing that he (his true character) was no longer being transmitted by his voice, he embarked on a journey to learn more about the voice, its origins, and why it's so important.

The personal hook really grabbed me, and I so enjoyed embarking on this study of the voice with Colapinto. Humans are the only animals with a descended larynx, and this anatomical change makes us capable of clear and precise speech, with the consequence of making us more likely to choke to death on our food. In fact, our affinity for spoken language may explain why so many of us love audiobooks and podcasts, and why oral traditions predated the development of writing systems.

Colapinto explores language acquisition in children and the role of the voice in communication with them - it turns out that our lapsing into the sweet tones of baby talk, which Colapinto labels Motherese, is not without a purpose. I also loved the exploration of accents and how we make judgments based on others' speech patterns - whether they represent UK received pronunciation, a Boston accent, or Eliza Doolittle cockney. He also explores the magic of singing and dramatic speech, how voice can convey emotion and persuade almost independently of the words spoken.

5 stars to a creative and entertaining exploration of the voice, a topic I didn't know much about. I highly recommend to another looking for a good popular science read.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review posted to Goodreads 4/18/21
Review to be posted to Instagram 4/25/21

How much thought have you given to your voice?

Not the way it sounds, mind you. We’re not talking about the words that you might say or the notes that you might sing, but rather the actual voice itself. The physiological and neurological underpinnings of how we as human beings are able to harness its many complexities.

If you’re at all curious, then you desperately need to sit down with John Colapinto’s “This Is the Voice.” It is a deeply researched and incredibly informative plunge into what proves to be a surprisingly robust topic, one that digs into not just the nuts and bolts of how our voice works, but some ideas about WHY it works the way it does.

This unapologetically wonky book is rife with fascinating facts about the origins of human voice, packed with interviews that address the topic from all angles. Through delving into the physical, emotional and cultural connotations of voice, Colapinto illustrates just how vital a part the voice plays in our world – who we were, who we are and who we may yet become.

The fundamental idea that this book explores is a simple, yet far-reaching one. Basically, Colapinto argues that the ability to speak – not just to make sounds, but to SPEAK – has been the key to humankind’s evolutionary journey to the top of the heap. That ability to communicate concisely and flexibly is what truly separated us from the pack and allowed for the many developments that led us to our current status.

And it all started with a song. Kind of.

Colapinto’s fascination with the voice started when he suffered an injury to his own. Specifically, he was the singer in a band and he overdid. When he tried to push through, his condition worsened. By the time he finally went to see a doctor, years later, the damage was done – a node on his vocal cords that could only (maybe) be fixed via a risky surgery. What followed was the deepest of deep dives, a wide-ranging and sprawling investigation of the voice from a variety of angles.

We learn about the lungfish, whose move from the sea to the land proved to be the kickstart of the development of the larynx. We learn the differences between the vocal apparatuses of other primates and our own. We’re given insight into great debates – scientific debates driven by linguists like Noam Chomsky in the middle of the 20th century and the famed Lincoln-Douglas political debates from a century earlier. We meet a reclusive Amazonia tribe whose language helps us understand the inherent musicality of our words. We learn about regional accents and vocal fry. And we’re part of a conversation about the weaponization of the voice by demagogues, including their ability to command and control through rhetorical tone and tricks.

Not to mention the fact that a person’s voice can communicate far more than the content of their words – not just meaning, but gender, class, mood and so much more.

Now, all of this information could have become overwhelming – there’s a lot here. But rather than succumbing to the granular, Colapinto manages to strike the balance between informational conveyance and entertaining engagement. There’s a conversational quality to “This Is the Voice” that makes connecting to the work very easy, even as we venture into heady notions like evolutionary biology and Universal Grammar; the layman is never lost, as sometimes happens when science writers relegate craft to the back burner.

Again – this is all intended to show that our voice is what allowed us to build and maintain the civilization in which we live. It’s a heady concept, this notion that our voice is the reason we are where we are as a species. And yet … Colapinto certainly puts forward a strong argument. It makes sense that an intricately-controlled, scalable medium of communication would be an advantage, but for so many of us – certainly for myself – the voice is something that we take for granted. As a performer, someone who relies heavily on the quality of my voice, it’s wild to think that I’ve never given much consideration to its wider importance.

“This Is the Voice” is a prime example of quality popular science, striking that ideal balance between informative and entertaining. It embraces the wide-ranging aspects of its subject matter, digging in wherever necessary and capturing the reader’s curiosity. But it’s also an engaging read, thoughtful and funny and finely crafted. Books that accomplish this combination are few and far between, but John Colapinto has definitely written one that does just that.

“The human voice is the organ of the soul.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This is a truly fascinating book about a facet of our selves that is meaningful, but rarely explored - our voices! John Colapinto researches this topic and provides interesting factoids about voice. As a woman, I am highly conscious about how I sound and how that will be interpreted, so this was right up my alley.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

Reviewing this one major outlet. Totally fascinating with enough fun facts to make you a star of any dinner party--IF we were having dinner parties.

Phenomenal Discussion, Perhaps Marred by Blatant Political Preferences In The Closing Chapters. This was a truly phenomenal discussion of all things related to the human voice: its physiology, evolutionary development, and impact on all areas of human life. However, the ultimate "taste" of the book will likely be more based on whether the reader agrees with the author's fawning over former US President Barack Obama and blatant disregard of current US President Donald Trump. Even in these sections of the book, however, where Colapinto is discussing the actual voices of the two men and how they are created and perceived, the book continues its phenomenal look at an oft-overlooked topic. The "YMMV" bit is more concerned with where the author steps away from a strict analysis of the voice and instead veers into editorializing over which man is preferred and why. Still, ultimately a well written and researched book, and very much recommended.