"Kennaway's best book. More than any of his other books, it testifies to his extraordinary poetic talent and the power of his human insight." - John le Carre
"If there is any justice at all . . . Kennaway's stock will rise posthumously. He could, after all, write rings around many of his more famous contemporaries. And is it too much to hope that he will be remembered at least partly as the author of "The Cost of Living Like This," his last and probably best novel?" - "Life Magazine"
"A moving and serious book, the harrowing theme is heightened by Kennaway's extraordinary ability to...

'A fine fusion of science and imagination, this novel belongs on the same shelf as the books of William Golding and George Orwell's "1984."' - "Washington Post"
' E]xciting . . . provides more than a few frissons and a story of considerable sophistication and fascination.' - "Kirkus Reviews"
'Kennaway's treatment of this nightmare and his horrifying suggestions for bending minds makes this a first-rate thriller.' - "Times Literary Supplement"
Why did Professor Sharpey, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist, commit suicide by throwing himself from a fast-moving train? And why were...

Music has been used as a cure for disease since as far back as King David's lyre, but the notion that it might be a serious cause of mental and physical illness was rare until the late eighteenth century. At that time, physicians started to argue that excessive music, or the wrong kind of music, could over-stimulate a vulnerable nervous system, leading to illness, immorality and even death. Since then there have been successive waves of moral panics about supposed epidemics of musical nervousness, caused by everything from Wagner to jazz and rock 'n' roll. It was this medical and critical...