Book Review

Author explores belief and remaking habit loops

Culture
Jun 20, 2012

THE POWER OF HABIT: WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO IN LIFE AND BUSINESS
By Charles Duhigg
Published by Random House, $28

Have you ever left home on your day off and, after a moment of distraction, found yourself driving to work? This is the “habit loop” in action.

Have you ever struggled against any bad habit that left you feeling powerless? In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg, a New York Times investigative reporter, seeks to understand exactly how habits work and how we can control them.

Book Review

Are we hardwired for allowing poverty and hunger to persist?

Culture
Jun 3, 2011

HUNGER: THE BIOLOGY AND POLITICS OF STARVATION
By John R. Butterly and Jack Shepherd
Published by Dartmouth College Press, $29.95

Recently I reviewed the Atlas of World Hunger (NCR, Sept. 29). This book gets down to that same issue from a different perspective and asks the provocative question, “Are we hardwired to let others starve?”

Book Review

A new look at hunger

Culture
Sep 29, 2010

Book measures and maps who goes hungry

THE ATLAS OF WORLD HUNGER
By Thomas J. Bassett and Alex Winter-Nelson
Published by University of Chicago Press, $45

When I sat down to review this book, I had just returned from a three-week trip to East Africa, where I saw lions hunting successfully, wildebeest crossing the Mara River -- not always successfully -- along with the astonishing diversity of plant and animal species found on the world’s oldest continent. I met fascinating people, including Maasai and Samburu tribesmen and picked up a smattering of Swahili.

Book Review

An account of a fascinating life

Culture
Apr 23, 2010

FAITH, INTERRUPTED: A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
By Robert Lax
Published by Alfred A. Knopf, $26

Eric Lax’s latest book, Faith, Interrupted: A Spiritual Journey, is best described as a memoir. He combines elements of biography (Lax is Woody Allen’s biographer) and travel writing as he weaves together the important threads of his own life.