This book tackles a dense, difficult, and controversial topic—whether we have free will—and passionately and convincingly argues that we do not. Thus, it takes a minority perspective (one that, not coincidentally, I agree with!) and provides a wealth of supporting material, mostly from neurobiology but also from developmental psychology, anthropology, evolutionary biology, and genetics, along with a powerful dose of logic, to buttress its viewpoint.
It will challenge those who disagree, provide potent backup for those who agree, and is liberally interspersed with often hilarious asides and personal anecdotes. It is informative and accessible science at its very best! Immanuel Kant suggested this motto for the Enlightenment: Sapere Aude, “Dare to know.” Ditto for Determined!
One of our great behavioral scientists, the bestselling author of Behave, plumbs the depths of the science and philosophy of decision-making to mount a devastating case against free will, an argument with profound consequences
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and…
There’s something compelling about a novel written from the perspective of an animal, yet it’s terribly difficult to pull it off without making it a book—however wonderful—more suitable for children than for adults (Watership Down was an exception).
This book threads this needle. Its prose verges on poetry as it opens the reader to the world of a lonely, thoughtful cougar living outside Los Angeles. Especially terrific and unique in my reading experience is how we get a new view of our own species through the eyes of this struggling, sometimes perplexed, but always compelling great cat.
Finalist for the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize. “Open Throat is what fiction should be.” ―The New York Times Book Review
One of Elle’s Best Summer Books of 2023, and one of i-D’s Fiction to be Excited for in 2023. Named a Most Anticipated Book by The New York Times, Vanity Fair, BuzzFeed, The Boston Globe, Nylon, Alta, Shondaland, Chicago Review of Books, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Literary Hub.
A lonely, lovable, queer mountain lion narrates this star-making fever dream of a novel.
A queer and dangerously hungry mountain lion lives in the drought-devastated land under the Hollywood sign. Lonely…
This is a delightfully engaging novel in itself, but especially wonderful (and unique in my reading experience) is how it offers full-on immersion into two otherwise distinct cultures: Black Americans and first-generation Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, unfolding during the 1930s.
Astonishingly, author McBride is equally at home in both, fluent in language, nuance, and history, deeply sensitive to the plights and struggles of each, and terrifically sympathetic to both while reflecting a heart-warming connection that unites the two “worlds.” The book includes a stunning surprise ending that ties up the whole adventure into a satisfying package.
“A murder mystery locked inside a Great American Novel . . . Charming, smart, heart-blistering, and heart-healing.” —Danez Smith, The New York Times Book Review
“We all need—we all deserve—this vibrant, love-affirming novel that bounds over any difference that claims to separate us.” —Ron Charles, The Washington Post
From James McBride, author of the bestselling Oprah’s Book Club pick Deacon King Kong and the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird, a novel about small-town secrets and the people who keep them
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for…
Mr. Rogers got it right: Everyone makes mistakes. What he didn’t say is that nearly everyone likes to know about them...especially when made by someone else. My book presents some of our most notable blunders, from the silly to the consequential, from ancient history to current events. It offers the pleasure of schadenfreude and of an easy-going reading experience, as well as some useful learning opportunities. It covers iconic, mythical blunders like Pandora opening that troublesome box and Eve taking her ill-advised bite, to great historical oops, such as Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812, as well as some less monumental but nonetheless exemplary mistakes, such as the “Curse of the Bambino,” when the Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth—at the time, a pitcher—to the New York Yankees. Many of these errors are presented in a light-hearted way, with some exceptions being catastrophic, more recent disasters, such as Trump’s egregious mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Pointing out these and other mistakes yields advice as well as a series of cautionary tales, but mostly, it’s an enjoyable and accessible read, especially useful as therapy in these difficult times. Ideally, we should all benefit from our own mistakes, making lemonade out of lemons while also following Eleanor Roosevelt’s advice: “Learn from the mistakes of others. You cannot live long enough to make them all by yourself.”
