A great book, about... everything? Seriously, I had the hardest time describing what this book was "about" to anyone who asked. It's mostly about how the social aspects of human culture affect things (the economy, people's world views and personalities, politics, etc.) more than is commonly acknowledged. There was a lot of talk about how most of economics is based on "what the typical human would do in this situation," but that almost always fails to take into account the sometimes illogical emotional motivations for people's actions, even in such a dry arena as money and finance.

This was definitely a "cheesecake book" (my term for a book that is wonderfully rich and dense, but you don't want to read too much at one time because you won't absorb all the rich information).

Brooks used a technique which he borrowed from another author (and acknowledged) in which he invented two characters to personify his theories. This was a brilliant idea--it made the whole thing much less dry by being able to invent anecdotes to explain his sometimes esoteric points. It made the purely "nonfiction-y" chapters much easier to digest because they were interspersed with chapters starring these "characters" going through their real-life behaviors.

One of my favorite bits was near the end where Erica, one of the characters, is in retirement and is making a conscious effort to enrich her life. She lays out the aspects of her soul/self to make a point to nurture with targeted activities:

Reflection
Creativity
Community
Intimacy
Service

What a great list to keep in mind. It'll remind me to try to always stay in touch with the deeper, emotional self... even (and especially) through the chaos of normal day-to-day life.

I also enjoyed the part where the book said that Harold's (Erica's spouse) political views were particularly in line with a certain, unnamed New York Times columnist (I assume Brooks meant himself here). Clever!