Publishers Weekly
04/12/2021
Why are people intrigued by mysteries, wonders Lehrer (A Book About Love) in this fascinating look at how humans respond to the unknown. In digging into the “mystery of mystery,” Lehrer begins with fiction, crediting Edgar Allan Poe with inventing a new kind of story whose appeal relied upon “the element of surprise” and turned readers into sleuths themselves, actively searching the texts for clues. He then examines why that itch is so gripping, maintaining that the biggest spikes in dopamine come from surprises. Lehrer branches out from there, surveying Shakespeare, who transformed a key element of the story that inspired Hamlet (making uncertain the question of whether his father had been murdered), the legendary blackout ending of The Sopranos, and the illusions of stage magicians. The only false note comes from a section endorsing a study that claimed plot spoilers actually enhance the reading experiences, which doesn’t mesh with his thesis that the unexpected matters most. Despite that dissonant note, this is a thought-provoking look at an aspect of human psychology—and literature—often taken for granted. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
Following Jonah Lehrer's curiosity, as he unravels the mystery of mysteries, was an absolute delight. I loved this book and learned something on every page.” —Malcolm Gladwell, author of Talking to Strangers
“Through interviews with schoolteachers and business owners and writings on topics ranging from Shakespeare to American sports, Lehrer makes an enticing case for how humans have harnessed mystery and suspense to revolutionize society.” —New York Times
“‘I know,’ says the wise man. ‘You don’t have to tell me, I already know.’ That’s not wisdom, says this book. It’s what we don’t know that makes us hungry, human—and wise. Jonah Lehrer takes us on an ‘I-can’t-figure-this-out’ tour that includes a boy opening a sack of toys, a few inches added to a pitching mound, a mechanic puzzled by a Porsche, and any number of telling stories that salute the power of not knowing—and loving, truly loving, the mystery.” —Robert Krulwich, former co-host of Radiolab
“It’s no longer a mystery how to bring together psychology, literature, and the arts in an exciting and interesting way since Jonah Lehrer has done it in this gem of a book. I savored every page.” —Ellen Langer, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and author of Mindfulness
“Jonah Lehrer has done it again—this time addressing The Big Why: How the ‘mysteries within mystery’ hook our brains and won’t let go. With his usual charm and unexpected surprises, Lehrer shows us how the hard-wiring of our minds loves to scratch that insistent mysterious itch.” —Bruce Nelson, Vice-Chairman, Omnicom (ret.)
“In this fascinating and rigorous new book, Jonah Lehrer solves the mystery of mystery itself—why mystery is so seductive for human beings, and how we can use this device in our everyday lives. Everyone will find it compelling—it explains so much.” —Johann Hari, author of Lost Connections
PRAISE FOR JONAH LEHRER AND A BOOK ABOUT LOVE:
“Good writers make writing look easy, but what people like Lehrer do is not easy at all. . . . Jonah Lehrer has a lot to offer the world.” —David Brooks, The New York Times Book Review
"Lehrer is a talent. . . . The animating idea of his intriguing new book is that two opposing psychological laws, habituation and love, shape much of human experience. . . . Lehrer uses scores of detailed vignettes to traverse a complicated intellectual landscape, eventually arriving at modern theories of love." —Matt McCarthy, USA Today
HOW WE DECIDE:
“Jonah Lehrer ingeniously weaves neuroscience, sports, war, psychology, and politics into a fascinating tale of human decision making. In the process, he makes us much wiser.” —Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational
"Lehrer proves once again that he’s a master storyteller and one of the best guides to the practical lessons from new neuroscience.” —Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired and author of The Long Tail
PROUST WAS A NEUROSCIENTIST:
"Jonah Lehrer is a brilliant young writer. His clear and vivid writing—incisive and thoughtful, yet sensitive and modest—is a special pleasure." —Oliver Sacks
"Marks the arrival of an important new thinker, who finds in the science and the arts wonder and beauty, and with equal confidence says wise and fresh things about both." —Jesse Cohen, Los Angeles Times Book Review
Kirkus Reviews
2021-06-10
Life is full of mysteries, including the mystery of mystery itself.
After having a book pulled from circulation and losing a New Yorker gig for transgressions such as plagiarism, cherry-picked facts, and invented quotations, Lehrer, sad to say, must be read under the shadow of a question mark. This foray in pop science is similar to his earlier works, though, one hopes, more scrupulously fact checked. Lehrer opens with an explication of what it is that makes us love a mystery story in the first place, citing the originator of the form, Edgar Allan Poe: “Poe’s insight was that the audience didn’t care about the murder….What they really cared about was the mystery.” Mysteries do something to the mind, igniting neurons that try to predict outcomes but, if the story is skillfully told, give way to “subtly violating our expectations, postponing the answer for as long as possible.” The storytelling skills of culture highbrow and middle come under consideration, from Citizen Kane to Law & Order: SVU, all of which make use of what J.J. Abrams calls the “mystery box technique,” which keeps viewers both engaged and puzzled. Lehrer then turns to magic, chronicling his experiences with a statistician who figured out how to beat lottery algorithms and then became fascinated by sleight of hand—again, a species of mystery, “creating a performance we can’t explain.” So far, so good, but then Lehrer stretches the bounds of his thesis to enfold the question of how we perceive and misperceive and are beguiled, incorporating bits and pieces of music lore (John Lennon’s “I Am the Walrus” and Bach foremost); the advertising campaign that brought the Volkswagen to America; the merits of the Comic Sans typeface, and the rabbit-duck optical illusion. Lehrer makes a good village explainer—good, as Gertrude Stein said of Ezra Pound, if you’re a village—but the narrative soufflé often threatens to fall as he wanders from subject to subject.
For those who like their science superficial and swaddled in pop culture.
