The pull of irrational behavior is like gravity… you can jump up but almost as soon as you have left the ground you are back down again.  It is in our human nature to be swayed by our subconscious, so much so that some times it is nearly impossible to choose the rational choice.

A Harvard Professor offers some of his MBA students a 20 dollar bill for auction on the first day of class.  Everyone in the class is allowed to bid for the 20 dollar bill, all bids have to be more than 1 dollar, the winner of the bid wins the twenty but the runner-up has to pay up his or her last bid.  At first the students jump at the opportunity to win a twenty dollar bill at a cheap price, when the bids reach double digits the hands start to dwindle leaving two students with the highest bids in the class to make the decision, do they continue?  Without fail the students continue to bid well over twenty dollars, rationally it would make more sense to stop the bidding before they reach twenty dollars and suffer the loss but the students get caught up in the moment and the loss of their money.  The highest bidding war the Professor has ever seen is $204 dollars, no matter who participates in this experiment  (business executives or students) the participants are always swayed.   It sounds ridiculous from an outsider point of view but in the moment you and I might fall to the same trap.

Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman,  authors of Sway, have attempted, and quite successfully so, to bring the various subconcious pulls toward irrationaly behaviors to light.  This well written, incredibly informative book encourages you to think twice before making a decision, to not attribute value to something prematurely, and clears up questionable behaviors.  I want to read this book again which is why I encourage you to pick up Sway at your local bookstore.  Take a peek into the human psyche, who knows maybe it will talk you out of making a horrible decision in the nearest of futures.

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When Isabel Gillies’s husband got a job she packed up her two toddlers, and belongings and moved from New York City to Ohio.  After only a few months of doing so her husband informed her that he was leaving her and their two boys.  A friend told her it “happens every day.”  The story doens’t even have the slightest hint of self pity, Isabel writes candidly as if speaking with a close friend.  With divorce rates close to 60% this memoir hits close to home for many of us.

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Tags: book, divorce, happens every day, isabel gillies, Literature, memoir, New York City, nonfiction, ohio, read

“Ned saw that, and then I saw Ned seeing it, and then I saw myself.  I guess that was the facinaion of Ned.  He was a mirror and a window and a prism all at the same time.”  

I found I quickly became attached to Self-Made Man.  Norah Vincent goes on an extraordinary journey to discover the man’s world as a woman dressed as a man named Ned.  Her research is broken down into parts: friendship, sex, love, life, work and self.  Ned joins a bowling league in rural America and notes the immediate acceptance men give other men, the instincts to teach younger men the ropes to being “manly,” and the ingrained roles men take on to protect the internal struggles they possess.  In the company of some of her teammates Ned patrons some of the local strip clubs to observe the interactions between strippers and their admirers, overall her experience in the clubs is uncomfortable and disturbing.

Dating proves to be a difficult process, the rejection Ned receives at bars is enough to crush her confidence, but does not deter her from trying.  The outcome of Ned’s dating experience is unexpected and surprising, “dating woman was the hardest part I had to do as Ned, even when the woman liked me and I liked them.”  After focusing on dating it is some what ironic to me that Norah chooses a monastery as Ned’s next adventure.  For one month Ned lives as a “rookie” among monks and observes the result of men living without woman.  

Under the Chapter “Self” Ned joins a mens group dedicated to rediscovering their feelings.  The underground “men’s movement” is Ned’s last leg of the journey, and one in which has perhaps the largest effect on Norah’s research, and also the only time when Ned’s secret is never divulged to the group.  

One of Norah’s biggest struggles when the experiment was over was the issue of deceit: “How do you reconcile genuine interpersonal connection and potentially valuable insights into human behavior with false pretenses?”  One of the most striking outcomes of her research was the fact that Norah felt she was able to pull off her disguise of Ned because the men she was around were hiding behind disguises of their own.

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Jack Horner, a 62 year old Paleontologist and technical advisor for the Jurassic Park films, has written a book about the potentiality that dinosaurs could walk on this earth again.  Birds carry dino DNA and as embryos they sprout the beginnings of claws, teeth, and lizard tail which are soon cancelled out by other genes which redirect that growth.  Horner believes that by somehow turning off the redirecting genes we could have a new species of “saurus” running around.  He assures that the beast will not mutate into a threat of humanity and would be nothing like the horrifying Jurassic Park film series.  

How To Build A Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn’t Have To Be Forever is fascinating.

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Tags: Dinosaurs, DNA, Evolution, How To Build A Dinosaur, Jack Horner, Jurassic Park, Literature, Paleontology

One of the most influential American writers from the 20th century is Jack Kerouac, a fore-father to the Beat Generation of the 50′s where jazz, poetry, and substance experimentation were key inspirations. These components, along with friends and the cities and towns of the US of A, form Kerouac’s ever famous work.  Semi-autobiographical in nature, On The Road was written in just three weeks and upon publication in 1957 was raved and exulted as one of the clearest and most important novels of Kerouac’s generation.  

The journey begins when Dean Moriarty (said to be Neal Cassady) comes to New York City to visit Sal Paradise (Jack Kerouac) and the two venture off on what is described as “life on the road”.  Though some of the slang may be dated the story is timeless in the search for meaning of life, humanity and the trials of a passionate friendship. 

Besides inspiring countless novels and movies, On The Road serves as a flame to the inner adventurer in all of us.

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Tags: 50's, Beat Generation, Jack Kerouac, Literature, Neal Cassady, On The Road

This is the kind of book I want to read all the time.  It’s real life at your finger tips, people striving to find meaning and truth in their lives, scraping to overcome hurdles and love that overcomes.  

“I rage against his struggle and pain and how his addiction has caused so much pain in our lives -ours,his- and I am also filled with boundless love for him, the miracle of Nic…”

Drugs have been a part of Nic’s life since he was 12, but its not until he is 18 that it becomes very obvious he has a problem.  David Scheff, Nic’s father and the author of Beautiful Boy, tells Nic’s story.  Beautiful Boy is raw and the hope and love that Scheff express for Nic is heartbreaking.  Nic’s journey takes the reader in and out of rehab, on the streets, on the run, and leaves us with a feeling of desperation to know what happens next.  From the east coast to the west coast Nic’s addiction leaves its mark on everyone in his life.  Anyone who has ever loved an addict, is an addict (recovering or using) or knows about addiction will find this book twisting and pulling at their heart over and over again.

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Tags: addiction, beautiful boy, biography, david scheff, Literature

Take the Ecyclopedia Britannica and condense it’s useful knowledge into a single memoir and you have The Know It All.   A.J. Jacobs decided to sit down and read Ecyclopedia’s 33,000 pages when he felt like all that he had learned throughout his educational career was being lost in every day life.  The book is cleverly written and full of knowledge not limited to the Britannica’s 32 volumes.  A.J. records how this adventure effects his relationships, seeks refuge in clubs and organizations where his new knowledge doesn’t ostracize him, and participates in Who Wants to be A Millionaire.

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Tags: AJ Jacobs, education, encyclopedia britannica, know it all, knowledge, Literature, who wants to be a millionaire

Essays from a local New Yorker who has the quirkiest and strangest life experiences to have ever hit a page find themselves collected and bound in I Was Told There’d be Cake.  Sloane Crosley has written essays for New York Times, Village Voice, and Salon.  Released last April 2008, I Was Told There’d be Cake is a lovable compilation of stories ranging from Sloane’s odd collection of  plastic pony’s to baking a cake in the shape of her boss’ face.  Her voice in the book is said to feel a little like David Sedaris, Carrie Bradshaw, and Dorothy Parker, but the best part about this little piece of literary brilliance is its Sloane Crosley’s.  Keep your eye out for this woman, with a debut book this good I can hardly wait for what the future brings.  Grab I was Told there’d be Cake at your nearest bookshop because your collection won’t be complete without it.

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Tags: april 2008, carrie bradshaw, David Sedaris, dorothy parker, essays, i was told thered be cake, Literature, New York, new york times, nonfiction, salon, sloane crosley, village voice

Marie Brenner writes in her new memoir Apples and Oranges, “It is the tone I know well, hate and love, rage and need, all scrambled together.”  A sister’s desire to understand her older brother takes her out of the city and into Washington State, better known as apple country.  Coming from a journalistic background the book reads like Brenner is in a hurry, chapters are short, sentences even shorter, facts are thrown on to the pages in a flurry.   The story itself is intriguing especially for those of us who have siblings, even more so with those that have a difficult relationship with their siblings.  Apples and Oranges never fully grasped my attention but did continue to entertain and intrigue which made me return to the book until the end.

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Tags: apples and oranges my brother and me, books, brothers and sisters, family, Literature, lost and found, marie brenner, read

Sociologist Sarah Thornton was a student and lover of art.   Her PhD on dance clubs and raves was published in a book form under the title, Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital.  Over ten years later Thornton has published a new work, Seven Days in the Art World, a behind the scenes artistic expedition in seven days, six cities, and five countries.  From The Auction in New York City to The Fair in Switzerland, The Prize in London to The Studio in Japan, Thornton depicts the ethnography and mindset of the contemporary art world.  A belief that nothing is more important than art itself brings all subcultures of the current and hip art macrocosm together.

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Tags: Club Cultures: Music, ethnography, Literature, london, Media and Subcultural Capital, New York City, Sarah Thornton, Seven Days in the Art World, Sociology of Culture, Switzerlands Fair, The Prize