Michael Bywater
Happy Now?
How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like
By Paul Bloom
The Bodley Head 280pp £16.99 order from our bookshop
Paul Bloom’s subject is well chosen. One of the huge problems facing any cognitive scientist is that none of us really has a clue why we like what we like. Most of us can’t really distinguish – certainly not in advance – pleasure from relief. Advertising men and branding specialists know this all too well. Their job is to create anxiety and simultaneously offer to alleviate it. The biggest part of consumer pleasure is imaginary: the pleasure of imagining the pleasure you’ll feel when you buy whatever it is.
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Part two of our summer crime roundup: @NJCooper_crime on new releases by @Marc_Elsberg, @SJ_Watson, @VictoriaReaderB, @jessbarryauthor, @pavesi_alex, @AlineTempleton and Lottie Moggach.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/july-august-2020-crime-round-up-part-2
'This is a disturbing tale of cruelty and deception.'
In the first part of our July/August crime round-up, @NJCooper_crime reviews thrillers by @ClaireAllan, @MarkBillingham, @IsabelleGrey, @SabineDurrant, @davidgilmanuk, , @evecsmith & @OneNightStanzas.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/july-august-2020-crime-round-up-part-1
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