Dark and Magical Places

Chris Kemp may not be able to find his way out of a stairwell, but he has quickly and with no false turns made his way to the top of my list of favorite science writers. For all his navigational shortcomings, Kemp is an expert guide to the most complex landscape of all: the human brain. He's a natural storyteller, a deft explainer, and a terrific and funny writer. -- Mary Roach, author of FUZZ Christopher Kemp's brilliant and beguiling new book reveals that behind the curtain of the seemingly quotidian act of traversing space lies an array of intricate neuroscientific magic tricks, temporal feats of strength, hiccups, and elusive mysteries that only the human brain can contain. Like the brain itself, Kemp's wild writing quakes and sparks, uncovering the lyric lurking in the neuroscientific, the hilarious in the incantatory. -- Matthew Gavin Frank, author of FLIGHT OF THE DIAMOND SMUGGLERS Christopher Kemp's captivating exploration of the brain's hippocampus and its seemingly magical powers will alter the way you see and move through the world. As both scientist and scribe, Kemp brings his gifts of curiosity and intelligence to bear on the topic of navigation and shows us that there is no shame in being lost. On the contrary, Kemp demonstrates that to be continuously and authentically in search of our place on earth is a wondrous thing. -- M. R. O'Connor, author of WAYFINDING