I've been kind of meaning to read this for a long time-- brains are weird and mine definitely is, so I listen to a lot of popular psych/science NF like This Is Your Mind on Plants, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, and Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?. It seemed like this kind of started it all, an early work of the genre, and is still popular. It's been a long time since I read anything by the author (and only one or two books even then), but I remembered being quite taken with them.

This isn't a book for new or casual psychology readers. The author very casually references books and articles by other writers and researchers, with a casualness that implies the reader is expected to immediately recognize and remember these, as well. There are some footnotes and endnotes, but these did not work properly within my eARC copy, so I can't comment on how these might have added to or supported the reading. Readers who are new to the topic may approach this more as a list of readings to start with, reading this book and popping out to read the referred works; this seems mostly doable for readers with access to larger public or academic libraries.

Modern readers may find this particularly jarring. While a preface by the author acknowledges that terminology and attitudes have changed over time since the original publication, the writing is quite shocking-- regularly referring to patients as r-word or calling them "creatures," for example. If a new edition of this book were truly needed, an update the substitutes these most offensive words would have been best. It's a shame the author didn't fully update the work in his own words during his lifetime.

Read with caution. No longer a required purchase for libraries except by patron request, due to the availability of newer, more comprehensive works. eARC of the new edition/reprint from NetGalley.