What led scientists to have acrobats copulate inside an MRI machine? Why do wordless patterns of sound send shivers down our spines and tickle ancient parts of our brains? How did a chemist's quest to create a drug to ease the pain of childbirth result in the creation of LSD? And did it change our understanding of the brain forever? From tortoiseshell condoms to superstar athletes on hallucinogens, science writer Zoe Cormier dissects these and other...

With Three Lives, Louis Auchincloss turns in another commanding performance as our most entertaining and intelligent chronicler of monied society, a world as morally complex as it is privileged. In "The Epicurean," Nat Chisolm is a relentless seeker of pleasure, a man whose financial ease and energetic pursuit of enjoyable diversions only make him more aware of his emotional bankruptcy. Alida Vermeule is "The Realist," an ambitious woman who engineers...

Henry "Monty" Montague was bred to be a gentleman. His passions for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men, have earned the disapproval of his father. His quest for pleasures and vices have led to one last hedonistic hurrah as Monty, his best friend and crush Percy, and Monty's sister Felicity begin a Grand Tour of Europe. When a reckless decision turns their trip abroad into a harrowing...

Marcello Rubini, a frustrated 'serious' writer, does tabloid journalism to make ends meet. He spends every evening in Via Veneto awaiting the next scandal, party invitation, or sexual proposition. From an enigmatic woman named Maddalena, to wealthy intellectual Steiner's penthouse, to a famous actress named Sylvia, Marcello finds himself caught up in the carnival spectacle of nightlife and its fleeting happiness. The empty evenings seem to weave together,...

The year is 2274, civilization exists in a vast, bubbled metropolis, where computerized servo-mechanisms provide all needs so everyone can pursue endless hedonism. Endless, that is, until Lastday, when anyone who's 30 must submit to Carousel, a soaring, spinning trip to eternity and supposed rebirth. Logan 5 is a Sandman authorized to terminate Runners fleeing Carousel. But, Logan is almost 30 himself and will not go to Carousel himself willingly....

Coles is a film student and he meets two fellow undergrads, Thea and Sam. Coles and Sam come together, but in time, Sam tires of Coles' hedonistic attitude, and they break up. Now ten years later, Coles is doing animation for an advertising agency and living with his girlfriend, Claire. Thea helps run a successful restaurant. Sam, smarting from a bad breakup, returns to New York after several years in London. Coles runs into Sam and discovers he still...