Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind [Hardcover]

M.D. Nicolas Bazan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2008

In Dr. Nicolas Bazan s brilliant first novel, neuroscientist Alvaro Cruz finds himself haunted by a recurring dream of a banjo player in an elusive cornfield that leads him on a personal quest to uncover the mysterious past of a New Orleans street singer known as Una Vida. Stricken with Alzheimer s, Una Vida can only offer tantalizing clues about her past through her mesmerizing vocals, incredible recollection of jazz lyrics, and the occasional verbal revisiting of a fascinating life that s fading quickly and forever into the recess of her mind. As Cruz searches for Una Vida s true identity, he learns profound lessons about the human psyche, the nature of memory and himself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Nicolas Bazan is a born storyteller...His story unfolds with many surprises. It s told with great compassion and has the gentle qualities of a sort of fairytale. --Edmond Fischer, Nobel Laureate in Medicine or Physiology, 1992

This mystical, deeply provocative novel portrays the anguish of Alzheimer s by contrast with the brilliance of the human brain in creating reality from dreams.

----Leeza Gibbons, founder of Leeza's Place (for the families of Alzheimer victims)

Nicolas Bazan is a born storyteller...His story unfolds with many surprises. It s told with great compassion and has the gentle qualities of a sort of fairytale. --Edmond Fischer, Nobel Laureate in Medicine or Physiology, 1992

Nicolas Bazan is a born storyteller...His story unfolds with many surprises. It s told with great compassion and has the gentle qualities of a sort of fairytale. --Edmond Fischer, Nobel Laureate in Medicine or Physiology, 1992

About the Author

Nicolas Bazan is a man driven by his life s many passions including a thirst for knowledge about the human mind and eyes, and a hunger for great food and fine music. Born in the tiny town of Los Sarmientos in Tucuman, Argentina, Nicolas Bazan s defining moment was witnessing an aunt suffer a seizure while walking him to a music lesson when he was a young boy, putting him on the path to becoming one of the world s premier neuroscientists. Applying himself eagerly to studying the causes behind seizures, stroke, blindness and other debilitating diseases of the brain and retina, he hopes his life s work leads to therapies that slow down and/or cure those diseases. Training at some of the most prestigious medical institutions including Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York and Harvard Medical School, Bazan took his first faculty appointment at age 26 at the University of Toronto, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, where he immersed himself in the study of neurochemistry. In the 1970s, he established a research institute in Argentina during a time when his native land was awash in political turmoil. He and his wife eventually fled with their five children to the United States in 1981. Welcomed in New Orleans, Bazan was appointed faculty by the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, where he later established and now heads the Neuroscience Center of Excellence. The knowledge sought at the center epitomizes the pursuit of understanding present in Bazan s own heart, mind and soul. He continues to apply his passion, not only to the cause of science, but to the joys and vigor found in the city he now calls home. His fondness for New Orleans life and jazz is surpassed only by his love for family and friends. Devoting as much time as he can to all of his passions, Bazan lives by the creed that what we do in this one life resonates in the lives of those both present and yet to come.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 221 pages
• Publisher: Five Star Publications, Inc.; 1st edition (November 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1589851129
• ISBN-13: 978-1589851122
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #958,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read, November 11, 2008

By 

Sarah Wright (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind (Hardcover)

This book was interesting from beginning to end- and brought New Orleans, mystery, alzheimer's and history to life. I highly recommend it. I plan on buying copies for friends who have relatives suffering from this disease.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Share many lives through Una Vida, March 23, 2011

By 

Allen Taylor - See all my reviews

This review is from: Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind (Hardcover)

As I write I am almost intimidated to do so because your writing is so beautiful. Una Vida makes clear your love of science and your special ability to capture the tenderness of life with gripping immediacy. Your "big brain and strong heart and deep soul" come through.

I grew up in the Five Spot.

Who are Jessica and Una Vida?

It is fascinating how the Haggar -Ishmael story makes its way around.

Allen Taylor
Director of the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research,
Professor of Nutrition, Biochemistry, and Ophthalmology
USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging
Tufts University
Director of Scientific Training Encouraging Peace - Graduate Training Program International Nutrition Foundation Tufts University 150 Harrison Ave, Boston MA 02111 [...]

5.0 out of 5 stars Una Vida, January 13, 2012

By 

BSWA - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind (Hardcover)

Touching story that for once shows New Orleans in a beautiful way. The portrayal of a woman with Alzheimer's who experiences music on a fully cognizant level nails the reality of the disease.