Review
[A] book that is different from the slew already out there on the general subject of happiness. No advice here about how to become happier by organizing your closest; Bloom is after something deeper than the mere stuff of feeling good. --
The New York Times Book Review In this eloquent and provocative book, Paul Bloom takes us inside the paradoxes of pleasure, exploring everything from cannibalism to Picasso to IKEA furniture. The quirks of delight, it turns out, are a delightful way to learn about the human mind. --Jonah Lehrer, author of
How We DecidePaul Bloom is among the deepest thinkers and clearest writers in the science of mind today. He has a knack for coming up with genuinely new insights about mental life--ones that you haven't already read about or thought of--and making them seem second nature through vivid examples and lucid explanations. --Steven Pinker, author of
How the Mind WorksThis book is not just a pleasure, but a revelation, by one of psychology's deepest thinkers and best writers. Lucid and fascinating, you'll want to read it slowly and savor the experience. --Daniel Gilbert, author of
Stumbling on HappinessHow Pleasure Works has one of the best discussions I’ve read of why art is pleasurable, why it matters to us, and why it moves us so. --Daniel Levitin, author of
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human ObsessionBloom is a superb writer. His gift is in writing beautifully but plainly, and anticipating everything a reader will need to know in order to appreciate the point he will ultimately make. --The Globe and Mail
From the Back Cover
"This book is not just a pleasure, but a revelation, by one of psychology's deepest thinkers and best writers. Lucid and fascinating, you'll want to read it slowly and savor the experience."--Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness
"Following the path of pleasure, Bloom leads us through a menagerie of human strangeness. By the end of the trip, the 'magic inside us' begins to make sense. This book is a pearl, a work of great beauty and value, built up around a simple truth: that we are essentialists, tuned-in to unseen order."--Jonathan Haidt, author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom
"Paul Bloom is among the deepest thinkers and clearest writers in the science of mind today. He has a knack for coming up with genuinely new insights about mental life--ones that you haven't already read about or thought of--and making them seem second nature through vivid examples and lucid explanations."--Steven Pinker, author of How the Mind Works
"How Pleasure Works has one of the best discussions I've read of why art is pleasurable, why it matters to us, and why it moves us so."--Daniel Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
"In this eloquent and provocative book, Paul Bloom takes us inside the paradoxes of pleasure, exploring everything from cannibalism to Picasso to IKEA furniture. The quirks of delight, it turns out, are a delightful way to learn about the human mind."
--Jonah Lehrer, author of How We Decide
