When I received an early copy of this book, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Jonah Lehrer is an awesome writer, and I enjoy mysteries and puzzles, so I thought the book sounded interesting. As per usual, Lehrer didn’t disappoint. I love to learn about human behavior, and something most of us love (even if we don’t realize it) is a good mystery. In this book, Lehrer discusses the psychology behind why we like stories with a good mystery and so much more. If you’re someone who loves books, movies, or TV shows with a good mystery, this book will help you understand why. As someone who writes content and works in marketing, I enjoyed the chapters discussing how to use mystery to get people engaged with your content.

Finally, something I loved the most about the book was it helped me understand why am the way I am. I’m always so curious and love to learn about so many different subjects, and it’s because I like to solve that sort of “mystery”. And why do I work so hard on problems that seem as though they can’t be solved? It’s just a mystery waiting to be solved. What’s really cool is Jonah Lehrer explains how schools can use mystery to help kids become more engaged in learning and develop better thinking skills, and it’s something I can definitely use as the father of a 12-year-old. So, when this book comes out on August 17th, I highly recommend you grab a copy.

This is a great read. Lehrer uses relatable examples from his extensive research to draw in the reader and make a solid point. It will make you rethink your responses to everyday things because of how mystery is used to manipulate us daily.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for an ARC.

MYSTERY

There’s some irony in how Jonah Lehrer has written a book about mystery without it being overly mysterious.

Mystery: A Seduction, A Strategy, A Solution is Lehrer’s attempt to understand what it is about mystery that uniquely captures our attention and imagination. He’s understandably upfront about this, describing in sufficient detail what the book is about at the onset: to deconstruct the world’s most alluring mysteries that we may better understand why the trigger us so.

Can’t write a book without telling readers what to expect, after all.

That mysteries tend to live rent-free in our minds can easily be explained by the fact that humans are not just rational but rationalizing beings. That is to say, we can’t quite accept things without some kind of explanation, which is why sometimes people end up fooling themselves by making up their own. This has been written about at length (occasionally by Lehrer, too), and there’s plenty of evidence to back this up. But in Mystery Lehrer falls back on neuroscience to explain our affinity for mystery: that our brain’s reward system experiences the largest spikes of dopamine (the “feel-good” chemical) when it encounters prediction errors—that is to say, when it experiences a pleasure it did not anticipate. Or to make a long story short, our brain is simply wired to enjoy the mysterious.

Thus Lehrer takes readers through how various mysteries latch their hooks onto us. For some it’s because certain information is withheld from us and therefore we revel in the big reveal. For others it’s the technique that remains opaque, and puzzling over how such-and-such happened, as in magic tricks, keeps the fires of our imagination lit. Sometimes making things harder for us to do is precisely what makes them memorable (and more rewarding). Sometimes we’re simply drawn towards flawed and contradictory characters. And sometimes some things are made mysterious for mystery’s sake, by virtue of which multitudes are invited to interpret and engage as they see fit.

As always, Lehrer is at his talented and entertaining best in Mystery, though he does tend to overdo it at times. He can be erudite to a fault, writing about neuroscience or history one moment and then making reference to pop culture the next to make a point. Objectively, it works when the reader has a passing familiarity with the reference. But it’s easy to surmise that Lehrer’s readers are not all as smart as he is (and one wishes he be a little more self-aware about the fact).

In the end, while it’s true that there’s very little that’s mysterious about Mystery (the book), Lehrer uses mystery’s greatest lessons to great effect. In conveying what the book is about and precisely what it will cover, we set our own expectations and predictions of what we might learn from it—leaving us to our surprise, regardless of what we had in mind.

I'm surprised I haven't seen more buzz about this book! It's pop psych meets pop culture with plenty of literary references thrown in, and was just plain fun to read. I especially appreciated the practical info on the power of mystery to engage readers and promote interest in learning. A good book that I hope makes it into more readers' hands!

As someone who is avidly fascinated with mysteries, this book was incredibly interesting! This book really broke down elements of the psychology behind mystery and I couldn't put it down.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

I can’t believe I’m the first person reviewing this book. It should be more popular. Mysteries are popular. Ubiquitous, really. I know, I read tons of them. I don’t need to be sold on their appeal. By a lifelong interest in social psychology propelled me to find out more and reading this book covered all I wanted to know and more.
Mind you, this isn’t just a book plaining the appeal of mystery as a genre, it covers all aspects of mystery, in daily life, in art, in music and more, there is proper brainscience to go with the explanations, but the basic fact is this…we like mysteries, we are wired to like them. We want to be intrigued, surprised, fooled even, so long as it’s exciting, so long as its unpredictable and fresh.
The author gallops from lowbrow fun like Law and Order and sports and popular music to the decidedly highbrow things like Bach to Mona Lisa and public education innovations, and, of course, there’s a lot about books too. And at every turn there’s a trick from the mystery box (which itself in a narrative trick) being utilized.
It’s about a certain way of living, the wanting of immaterial treasures and intangible pleasures of the mysterious world.
Einstein said it best, but then, of course, he was a genius,
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.
Nd so this book is a fascinating, edifying and entertaining journey to be taken on. Pop science at its best. And an absolute delight to read. I sincerely hope my review will inspire more readership for this book, it certainly deserves a wider audience. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.