Given the diversity of reviews, I am curious to read THE SOCIAL ANIMAL and come to my own opinion

The good, the bad, and the ugly. Reviews of David Brooks' new book The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement are certainly not monolithic.

Looking at the list of books [pdf] he read in order to research The Social Animal, I probably will not agree with all that he has written. The authors he lists are for the most part a crew of materialists.

Some of the reviews (I'll continue to add to these links):

• "The Social Animal" (Christian Science Monitor)
• "David Brooks Defines The New 'Social Animal'" (NPR)
• A review critical of the science included in the book: "The Mind Readers" (Wall Street Journal)
• The most negative review I have seen: "David Brooks' dream world for the trust-fund set" (Salon)
• "The Social Animal by David Brooks: A Scornful Review" (Forbes blogs)
• "Mean Street: What David Brooks Got Wrong and Montaigne Got Right" (Wall Street Journal blogs)
• "David Brooks’s Theory of Human Nature" (New York Times)
• "'The Social Animal,' by David Brooks" (San Francisco Chronicle)
• "A case for the supremacy of the unconscious mind" (Boston Globe)
• "Social Animalapalooza" a series of reviews at Forbes blogs
• "Thinking and Talking: Where's the Human in David Brooks' Social Animal?" (Psychology Today blog)
• "David Brooks: The man who can measure true happiness" (Guardian)

Click to listen to Brooks talk about the book: Charlie Rose interview. Click to read an excerpt of the book from The New Yorker. Here's an excerpt from The New York Times. And an animated video depicting a selection of Chapter 5. Click to watch a TED video of Brooks talking about topics covered in the book.