Product Description

The A to ZZZ of sleep is offered by the bestselling author of The Intelligence of Dogs. In an engrossing blend of entertaining anecdotes and scientific data, bestselling author Stanley Coren explores the world of sleep and sleeplessness.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #465301 in Books
• Published on: 1997-04-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From Library Journal
While Coren's (psychology, Univ. of British Columbia) main thesis is that we Americans are becoming an ever-more-exhausted and accident-prone society due to "sleep debt," his fascinating book is also an in-depth look at this mysterious activity in which we all must, by nature, engage. Coren, author of the best-selling The Intelligence of Dogs (LJ 3/15/94), sees much peril in the fact that we are sleeping less, sleeping oddly, and think we can get away with it. He takes the reader on a journey into the world of sleep, keeping the scientific jargon to a manageable minimum without sacrificing the integrity of his work. One is impressed with the facts he lays out, though he makes clear that sleep remains a necessary but still very mysterious realm of human experience. After taking us through chapters detailing what scientists have come to know about sleep and the sleep experience, he tackles sleep problems, including insomnia, and details with alarming anecdotal and statistical evidence what progressively less sleep is buying us, both as individuals and as a society. Many chapters also offer tips, hints, and questionnaires dealing with different aspects of sleep. This is a well-written, easy-to-understand book on a complex scientific subject to which everyone can relate. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.?David M. Turkalo, Suffolk Univ. Law Sch. Lib., Boston
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Coren conveys a vast amount of information about sleep with a lively feeling for the research that amassed it. He explores the basic body cycles and their effects on sleep, and he describes the human "internal clock" and the confusions arising from adjusting its 25-hour cycle to the requirements of the 24-hour day. His main theme, though, is sleep deprivation. The average person should sleep between 9 1/2 and 10 hours a night, it seems--a need Coren stresses by citing many effects of lessened sleep time, one of the most striking of which is the increase in fatal accidents during the days following the spring change to daylight saving time (there is a corresponding decrease when standard time resumes in the fall). As some frightening stories Coren tells attest, long-distance truck drivers, medical interns and residents, and nuclear plant workers especially suffer from lessened sleep. As Coren stresses elsewhere, sleep is also a vital factor in the body's ability to fight off disease. Despite the topic, few will fall asleep reading this book. William Beatty

From Kirkus Reviews
Forget that early-to-rise myth; getting too little sleep is unhealthful, costly, and downright unproductive, according to this lively, anecdote-laden report on the perils of sleep deprivation. Coren, a Canadian neuropsychologist whose previous work had wide appeal among dog lovers (The Intelligence of Dogs, 1994), will win the kudos of sleep lovers with this one. After a brief look at sleep in the rest of the animal kingdom, he focuses on what happens to the human mind and body when deprived of sleep. Citing research and using notes from a diary he kept while systematically cutting back on his own sleep, he demonstrates that reducing sleep decreases the quality and quantity of one's work. Furthermore, to ignore our biological clocks is to court disaster, for Coren notes that sleep deprivation weakens the immune system, leaving the body more vulnerable to infection and illness, even death. He looks specifically at the effects of sleep deprivation on truck drivers, airline pilots, air traffic controllers, hospital interns and residents, and shift workers such as police and firefighters. The statistics and anecdotes he provides are certainly eye-opening. A 1988 figure he cites gives the cost of sleep-related accidents in the US that year as $56.02 billion, and he presents persuasive evidence that the major disasters of Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and the Exxon Valdez were all caused by human beings with too little sleep. Tucked in among the sobering data are several charts and tables, quizzes to help one analyze one's own sleep habits and needs, and some tips on overcoming jet lag and getting a good night's sleep. All the justification one needs for turning off the alarm and catching another 40 winks. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Excellent
I ordered this book just because Dr. Coren is my favorite author (How To Speak Dog, The Intelligence Of The Dogs, Why We Love The Dogs We Do). I was certain that I would find this book very interesting, and I wasn't wrong. This book is truly wonderful. He explains how many hours should we sleep and what happens to us if we don't. How our mental and physical health depends on sleep, and gives advices as to how to improve the quality of our sleep.

There is a test you can perform in order to understand how many hours of sleep you need. It's just great.

I wish all doctors read this masterpiece and instead of giving Valium or whatever to people with sleeping disorders, were giving them advices taken from this book. Once more, thank you Mr.Coren

Engrossing and informative!
This is that rare book which is, incredibly, both a page-turner and full of top-rate science and information. I learned an immense amount from it and was entertained in the process. Among the great, keep-it-on-your-shelf for reference topics are: foods and their effect on sleep, how to minimize jet-lag, and how much sleep different species of animals get (look up cats!). It's also a great resource for winning arguments with self-righteous, sleep-deprived workaholics. I liked this book so much that I used it as reference material for an extra lecture in the college psychology class I teach.

A much-underestimated topic
Sleep is one of the most common activities in our lives. As such, one would expect that everybody would know a lot about it.

This book shows that this is not the case. Our western work-ethos has led us to believe that sleeping is for weaklings and that sleeping very little is a sign of discipline and diligence . This book is full of examples of the results of that attitude. As a renowned researcher into the science of sleep, the Author is able to list a considerable number of instances where a lack of sleep did not only lead to less productivity, but led to downright disasters such as the sinking of the "Exxon Valdez" or the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

I found that the book gives a real insight into the importance of obtaining enough sleep. In my case, I found it convincing enough to change some of my habits and go to bed earlier, if need be. As the author shows, a like change throughout society might safe us billions of dollars per year.