I sing in a choir. My wife doesn't. I was only on page 42 of this book when I said to her, "If you ever want to know why I love singing in choir so much - read this book!"

This book is the best expression I've read of the joy of singing together in groups. I laughed out loud repeatedly, I shivered with shared experience. Throughout, I kept thinking to myself, "I know exactly what she means!"

Her descriptions of the physical effects - the visceral sensation - of singing harmony are especially powerful.

If I have one fault to pick with this book, it's that it feels a bit too fragmentary overall. In her "Prelude", Ms. Horn states that she intended this book to be an eclectic collection of stories from her experience, stories from the history of choral singing and its music, and what surprisingly little we know about the science of singing.

So criticizing this book for being "fragmentary" isn't really fair. And the through-line for all of it is the joy and wonder of choral singing, and all the gifts it gives to those who participate. ( )

Imperfect Harmony fits right in with my life. I, too, sing in my church choir and it really is a great outlet for so many things! I also love that is has so much history and information about music in general. Horn really does take you on a journey through her own life and through the music that she sings. It really is a special book that goes beyond the simple categorization of memoir. ( )

I love memoir, I love music, and singing in my small town church choir is one of my fondest memories. Like the author I am not particularly religious, but know how spiritual group singing can be, and how it can change your life. The book is much more than a memoir, though, filled with music history, and can be a dense read. Some sections were more interesting to me than others, and it took me quite a while to finish, but I kept coming back to it. I listened to the NPR interview with the author and found it very interesting as well. The best part about this book is that it reminded me that I need to sing more often, and how satisfying singing with others can be. I recommend this book highly for music and memoir fans. ( )

This was an enjoyable read. I'm a big fan of memoirs -- love to learn how other people live their lives, what they find important, and how they discovered their life's passion. I find it interesting learning the nuts and bolts of how a choir operates, and the history of choral singing.

This book has chapters discussing the author's experience singing In a choral group. She discusses what she feels when singing with others. Mixed in are some interludes with history of singing in choirs. I enjoyed and related to much of what she said and for people who sing in choirs, they will understand her experiences . One disappointment was to find out that, even though her group mainly sings religious songs, she is an agnostic or atheist. When singing these songs, instead of worshipping God, she seems to worship the music. This may make it a little disappointing for members of church choirs to read. ( )