Tall Tales about the Mind and Brain: Separating Fact from Fiction

by Sergio Della Sala (Editor)

Tall Tales presents a sweeping survey of common myths about the mind and brain. In a lighthearted and accessible style, it exposes the truth behind these beliefs, how they are perpetuated, why people believe them, and why they might even exist in the first place.

Genres: Psychology

552 pages, Paperback

First published January 11, 2007

Reviews

[Scarlett Sims · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok so I decided I wasn't actually going to finish this book after getting more than halfway through it because it just wasn't interesting enough for me to put the time into it, but I'll review the bits I did read.

Basically when I picked this up, I thought it was going to be an Oliver Sacks type layman's fun/interesting "this is how your brain works" type thing. It's actually quite technical. Not so technical that I absolutely couldn't understand it, but certainly scholarly and not intended for leisure reading.

Also some of the chapters were poorly edited. It seemed to be a case of "the author isn't a native English speaker" but I still found it annoying.

Lastly, I didn't really think that some of the tall tales were common misconceptions, which seemed to be the author's opinion. I can't remember any specifically right now but they were things that I had never heard/thought.

I am giving the book three stars because the parts I read were interesting and gave Hunter and myself some good driving conversations, but overall it was a bit disappointing. I hate not finishing a book but there is so much out there that interests me more.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was like catnip for my inner skeptic (really? no studies have shown a correlation between increased craziness/violence and full moons? hmmm). At 29 chapters there were bunches of interesting "myths" covered. However some of the chapters were much better written than others. Some had a downright pop science feel while others were the dullest of scholarly works. Almost every chapter included a full bibliography... just in case your inner skeptic wasn't satisfied.

My copy said it was reprinted and newly edited version which makes me wonder why it contained so many typos. Seriously, you'd think a prestigious press such as Oxford University Press could dig up a decent editor.