Millions of people love attending a magic show or watching reruns of Law & Order: SVU, and there's a reason: humans are hard-wired to love mysteries, and Jonah Lehrer (How We Decide; Proust Was a Neuroscientist) illuminates why in Mystery: A Seduction, a Strategy, a Solution. Filled with examples both big and small--including a Bletchley Park codebreaker and a man who cracked the Canadian lottery ticket system--Mystery explains how mysteries catch our fancies. As Lehrer says, "It doesn't matter if it's Hamlet, God, or a Marvel superhero--it's their mysteries that make them interesting."
The book's chapters showcase different aspects of mysteries--such as unpredictable characters, discordant fonts, the "mystery box" that explains the popularity of unboxing videos on YouTube. By breaking down the various elements of mysteries, Lehrer showcases why the human brain is unable to resist a mysterious hook. The element of surprise is compellingly seductive.
Mystery is a fascinating blend of pop culture, neuroscience and history, creating a seamlessly entertaining story. Applicable to everyone from writers of whodunits to baseball coaches, the lesson of Mystery is indelible: predictability is boring. And because the world is full of ever-increasing uncertainties, people will continue to turn to art to solve mysteries for them, to show them both what is possible and what isn't. Sure to appeal to both mystery readers and lovers of science, Mystery: A Seduction, a Strategy, a Solution is a delightful blend of real-life intrigue and fictional mystery tropes. --Jessica Howard, bookseller at Bookmans, Flagstaff, Ariz.