A Novel by Richard Dooling

Read Chapter One of Brain Storm

New York Times Notable Book of 1998

Amazon Hot 100 Bestseller

Review Excerpts

“Dooling’s new book is a brilliant concoction, flashing with comedic and intellectual energy . . . . an inspired piece of work, a caustically funny, antic diatribe with a tightly woven criminal intrigue at its narrational heart.”– Richard Bernstein, New York Times

“This thriller can’t easily be subcategorized because it is, among other things, a defense of free speech, a whodunit, a speculation about the way cognitive neuroscience is changing our perception of crime, a satirical portrait of the legal profession, a sex romp, a de facto essay on language and, by no means least, a comedy. This book is packed.”– Colin Harrison, Sunday New York Times

“Hilarious . . . subtle, entertaining . . . a serious novel of ideas.” — George Will, Washington Post

I researched and wrote Brain Storm in the mid-1990s, during the Decade of the Brain, when neuroscience was just catching fire. Good books on neuroscience came out at least once a month, even then. Now they come out once a week!

First, a sampling of the ones I read while I was writing Brain Storm:

Brain Storm Background Books:

• Consciousness Explained, By Daniel Dennett;
• The Engine Of Reason, The Seat Of The Soul, By Paul Churchland;
• Descartes Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain, By Antonio Damasio.

Hundreds of brain books have come out since Brain Storm was published in 1998. Some of these great books would have saved me a ton of research. These are my favorites.

Good post-Brain Storm books:

• How The Mind Works, By Steven Pinker;
• The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, by Julian Jaynes;
• Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind, by V.S. Ramachandran.

Posted by Richard Dooling on Saturday, May 9th, 1998 at 10:05 am.