Dreamland: Adventures In The Strange Science Of Sleep

Description

Like many of us, journalist David K. Randall never gave sleep much thought. That is, until he began sleepwalking. One midnight crash into a hallway wall sent him on an investigation into the strange science of sleep.

In Dreamland, Randall explores the research that is investigating those dark hours that make up nearly a third of our lives. Taking readers from military battlefields to children's bedrooms, Dreamland shows that sleep isn't as simple as it seems. Why did the results of one sleep study change the bookmakers' odds for certain Monday Night Football games? Do women sleep differently than men? And if you happen to kill someone while you are sleepwalking, does that count as murder?

This book is a tour of the often odd, sometimes disturbing, and always fascinating things that go on in the peculiar world of sleep. You'll never look at your pillow the same way again.

Reviews

Randall has done a lot of good reporting, writes clearly and makes even the scientific aspects of his subject easily accessible... The result is an enjoyable, edifying book that goes down easy... The one thing Dreamland will not do--sorry, insomniacs--is put you to sleep. The topic and the treatment are both too interesting. --Daniel Akst

Author description

David K. Randall, a reporter at the Associated Press, has also written for Forbes and The New York Times. He is an adjunct professor of journalism at New York University.