Memphis Reads Archive

Pamela McFarland recommends STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS by Daniel Gilbert (Knopf, 2006):

Daniel Gilbert is a psychology professor at Harvard, and Stumbling on Happiness is like the best, most interesting college class you ever took, with the funniest, smartest teacher. It’s all about the way our brains work, and how, often, we haven’t the least conscious clue about how our brains are perceiving, predicting, and remembering.

Pamela McFarland, Raleigh Branch Library

Other reviewers agree:

"In a book that is as deep as it is delightful, Daniel Gilbert reveals the powerful and often surprising connections between our experience of happiness and how we think about the future. Drawing on cutting edge psychological research and his own sharp insights into everyday events, Gilbert manages to have considerable fun while expertly illuminating some of the most profound mysteries of the human mind. I confidently predict that your future will be happier if you read this pathbreaking volume." —Daniel L. Schacter, author of The Seven Sins of Memory

"This is a brilliant book, a useful book, and a book that could quite possibly change the way you look at just about everything. And as a bonus, Gilbert writes like a cross between Malcolm Gladwell [Blink] and David Sedaris." —Seth Godin, author of All Marketers Are Liars