Overview

In this enthralling work of popular science, respected Harvard psychiatrist Jordan Smoller addresses one of humankind's most enduring and perplexing questions: What does it mean to be ""normal?"" In The Other Side of Normal, Smoller explores the biological component of normalcy, revealing the hidden side of our everyday behaviors--why we love what we love and fear what we fear. Other bestselling works of neurobiology and the mind have focused on mental illness and abnormal behaviors--like the Oliver Sacks classic, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat--but The Other Side of Normal is an eye-opening, thought-provoking, utterly fascinating and totally accessible exploration of the universals of human experience. It will change forever our understanding of who we are and what makes us that way.

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9780061492204

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Reviews

An informative overview of research in neuroscience that provides a scientific foundation for understanding mental disorders. --Kirkus Reviews

Move over Oliver Sacks - I couldn't put this fascinating book down! Path-breaking and witty, as entertaining as it is informative, The Other Side of Normal is filled with insights into why we behave as we do and how biology determines so much of our emotional makeup. A brilliant mind and dazzling writer, Smoller has written a book that will change the way you look at every day life. --Amy Chua, Yale Law Professor and New York Times bestseller Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother Exciting... provocative...Clearly and articulately, he ties evolutionary psychology, biological psychiatry, animal behavior, and related fields into a package of rare coherence. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Are we born crazy, or is crazy thrust upon us? Smoller investigates. --Denver Post Highly interesting and accessible study of brain science and behavior....This thoroughly documented work provides enough information to satisfy the science-savvy without leaving the rest of us behind....Readers will be fascinated. --Library Journal Smoller redefines the biology of normal. --Booklist An informative overview of research in neuroscience that provides a scientific foundation for understanding mental disorders. --Kirkus Reviews Move over Oliver Sacks - I couldn t put this fascinating book down! Path-breaking and witty, as entertaining as it is informative, The Other Side of Normal is filled with insights into why we behave as we do and how biology determines so much of our emotional makeup. A brilliant mind and dazzling writer, Smoller has written a book that will change the way you look at every day life. --Amy Chua, Yale Law Professor and New York Times bestseller Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother Exciting... provocative...Clearly and articulately, he ties evolutionary psychology, biological psychiatry, animal behavior, and related fields into a package of rare coherence. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Highly interesting and accessible study of brain science and behavior....This thoroughly documented work provides enough information to satisfy the science-savvy without leaving the rest of us behind....Readers will be fascinated. --Library Journal An informative overview of research in neuroscience that provides a scientific foundation for understanding mental disorders. --Kirkus Reviews Smoller redefines the biology of normal. --Booklist Are we born crazy, or is crazy thrust upon us? Smoller investigates. --Denver Post

Author Information

Jordan Smoller is associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.

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