Author(s): David Brooks

Psychology

How do we achieve success? Are some people more likely than others to end up in a good relationship? With a happy family life? A rewarding career?

Forget everything you thought you knew about happiness and fulfilment. Let David Brooks take you on a journey - an adventure in the unconscious. It will change the way you see yourself, and the world. In the past 30 years we have learnt more about the human brain than in the previous 3000 - a scientific revolution has occurred. The unconscious mind, it turns out, is most of the mind - the place where the majority of the brain's work gets done, where our most important life decisions are made, where character is formed and the seeds of accomplishment grow. In this illuminating and compelling book, David Brooks weaves a vast array of new research into the lives of two fictional characters, Harold and Erica, following them from infancy to old age. In so doing, he reveals a fundamental new understanding of human nature. He outlines a new definition of success, highlighting what economists call non-cognitive skills - those hidden qualities that can't be easily counted or measured, but which in real life lead to happiness and fulfilment. The Social Animal is a moving and nuanced intellectual adventure. Impossible to put down, it is an essential book for our time - one that will have a broad social impact and change the way we see ourselves and the world.