Tom Vanderbilt

discusses

You May Also Like:
Taste in an Age of Endless Choice

in conversation with AMANDA KATZ

This event includes a book signing

Date

May
19
Thursday
May 19, 2016
7:00 PM ET

Location

Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Tickets

This event is free; no tickets are required.

Harvard Book Store welcomes the bestselling author of Traffic TOM VANDERBILT and Boston Globe's AMANDA KATZ for a discussion of Vanderbilt's latest book, You May Also Like: Taste in an Age of Endless Choice—an enlightening and illuminating look at why we like the things we like, why we hate the things we hate, and what our preferences reveal about us.

About You May Also Like

Why is showing up to work wearing the same outfit as a coworker so embarrassing? Why do we venerate so many artists who were controversial or ignored during their lifetimes? What makes an ideal cat an ideal cat, or an ideal beer an ideal beer, in the eyes of expert judges? From the tangled underpinnings of our food taste to our unsettling insecurity before unfamiliar works of art to the complex dynamics of our playlists and the pop charts, our preferences and opinions are constantly being shaped by countless forces. And in the digital age, a nonstop procession of “thumbs up” and “likes” and “stars” is helping dictate our choices. Taste has moved online—there are more ways than ever for us, and companies, to see what and how we are consuming. If you’ve ever wondered how Netflix recommends movies, how to spot a fake Yelp review, or why books often see a sudden decline in Amazon ratings after they win a major prize, Tom Vanderbilt has answers to these questions and many more that you’ve probably never thought to ask. 

With a voracious curiosity, Vanderbilt stalks the elusive beast of taste, probing research in psychology, marketing, and neuroscience to answer myriad complex and fascinating questions. Comprehensively researched and singularly insightful, You May Also Like is a joyous intellectual journey that helps us better understand how we perceive, judge, and appreciate the world around us.

Praise

“We live in an age of bewildering choice, yet we are the sum total of our decisions. You May Also Like is my favourite kind of book—surprising, smart, and superbly researched. It tackles that most mysterious of subjects: what make us tick.” —Terry O’Reilly, author of The Age of Persuasion and host of CBC Radio show Under the Influence

“A fascinating romp through the mysteries of taste.” —Susan Pinker, author of The Sexual Paradox and The Village Effect

You May Also Like is the best kind of science writing—deeply reported and researched, a witty investigation that’s precisely to my taste.” —Clive Thompson, author of Smarter Than You Think

Tom Vanderbilt
Tom Vanderbilt

Tom Vanderbilt

Tom Vanderbilt has written for many publications, including The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, Popular Science, The Financial Times, Smithsonian and The London Review of Books, among many others. He is a contributing editor of Wired UK, Outside, and Artforum. He is author of You May Also Like: Taste in an Age of Endless Choice, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) and Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America. He has appeared on a wide range of television and radio programs, from the Today show to the BBC's World Service to NPR's Fresh Air. He has been a visiting scholar at NYU's Rudin Center for Transportation, a research fellow at the Canadian Centre for Architecture, a fellow at the Design Trust for Public Space, and a winner of the Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant, among other honors.

Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Walking from the Harvard Square T station: 2 minutes

As you exit the station, reverse your direction and walk east along Mass. Ave. in front of the Cambridge Savings Bank. Cross Dunster St. and proceed along Mass. Ave for three more blocks. You will pass Au Bon Pain, JP Licks, and TD Bank. Harvard Book Store is located at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Plympton St.

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While we can't guarantee fulfillment of a signed book pre-order, our authors are almost always able to sign extra books to fulfill such orders.

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FAQ:

Can I request a personalized inscription?
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