Thursday, May 28, 2009

David Linden

David J. Linden is Professor of Neuroscience at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Editor in Chief of the Journal of Neurophysiology.

His acclaimed book is The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God.

Recently, I asked him what he was reading. His reply:
Even though I only write about brain science, I mostly read modern fiction. I just finished a wonderful collection of short stories by Shalom Auslander entitled Beware of God. If Franz Kafka and David Sedaris could have a baby it might write like Auslander-- knee-slapping funny, surreal and profound all at once. My favorite story involved two pet hamsters, stuck in a cage in the apartment of Joe, their human owner. The hamsters are dying as Joe neglects them in his zeal to get laid. Of course, one hamster becomes hyper-religious, praying to the divine Joe for deliverance while the other becomes a bitter nonbeliever. Theological arguments and hijinx ensue. Life lessons abound.
Visit The Accidental Mind website and read some free chapters from the book.

The Page 99 Test: The Accidental Mind.

--Marshal Zeringue