Bloom covers food, sex, and art at length and touches on much more in this accessible compendium of experiments, quotes, philosophical nuggets, and anecdotes. Sigmund Freud, Mr. Pleasure Principle himself, would have approved.—Katy Steinmetz, Time

A book that is different from the slew already out there on the general subject of happiness. No advice here about how to become happier by organizing your closest; Bloom is after something deeper than the mere stuff of feeling good.—Robin Marantz Henig, New York Times

Bloom is a lovely, erudite stylist.—Mary Carmichael, Newsweek

A gracefully written book and a lot of fun.—Peter D. Kramer, Slate

Drawing on his own research as well as studies in neuroscience, behavioral economics, and philosophy, [Bloom] makes a powerful argument for essentialism at the crux of human pleasure.—Maywa Montenegro, Seed Magazine

In this eloquent and provocative book, Paul Bloom takes us inside the paradoxes of pleasure, exploring everything from cannibalism to Picasso to IKEA furniture. The quirks of delight, it turns out, are a delightful way to learn about the human mind.—Jonah Lehrer, author of How We Decide

This book is not just a pleasure, but a revelation, by one of psychology’s deepest thinkers and best writers. Lucid and fascinating, you’ll want to read it slowly and savor the experience.—Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness

How Pleasure Works has one of the best discussions I’ve read of why art is pleasurable, why it matters to us, and why it moves us so. —Daniel Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

This book is a pearl, a work of great beauty and value, built up around a simple truth: that we are essentialists, tuned in to unseen order.—Jonathan Haidt, author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom