American Gods: Poetic Insights

I finished listening to American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition (A Full Cast Production) (Unabridged) by Neil Gaiman, narrated by Ron McLarty, Daniel Oreskes, full cast on my Audible app. Try Audible and get it free: https://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B0055274U2&source_code=AFAORWS04241590G4

American Gods was recommended by a friend,  I had recently read the author's book about Norse mythology, and I needed some fiction - so I was curious enough to dive in. Some of the character names and scenarios initially made it difficult for me to suspend my disbelief. The plunge was worth it, because Neil Gaiman was able to capture the intersection of banal American pragmatism and mythic exceptionalism in a light-hearted, entertaining American spirit.

Gaiman's liberal employment of cultural icons including a road trip, a down on his luck ex-con hero, prestidigitation, a murder mystery, a small town, conspiracies, fast food, folk music, poetry, and shared legends, chipped away at my disbelief. Despite the improbability of my suspension of disbelief  about a mythology set in a place where it can be difficult for gods to survive, Gaiman managed to hook me. He weaved in a plethora of anticipation and surprise, which kept me curious enough to take in a whale of a tale.

Behave: not my favorite, but as important as any

I finished listening to Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst (Unabridged) by Robert M. Sapolsky, narrated by Michael Goldstrom on my Audible app. Try Audible and get it free: https://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B06XW3MVNF&source_code=AFAORWS04241590G4

Behave is not my favorite book because it casts such a wide net, yet it is so important precisely because it casts such a wide net. Sapolsky proposes a grand multifactorial theory evidencing how complicated behavior is, largely in counterpoint to a proliferation of oversimplifying single factor explanations skewing public debate about what causes the best and worst of public behavior. The author's command the nitty gritty of neuroscience, endocrinology, and primatology lends gravitas to his pointed challenges to sociology, theology, and legal traditions. The skeptic in me revels in the mastery with which the author pops intellectual balloons, but my pragmatic side, always seeking prescriptions to daily and longer term problems wonders: how can I use this? It reminds me of an all-in-one tool when I'm in need of a hammer.