Summary of Annoying

Why are you annoyed? Perhaps the person sitting next to you at the movies is snapping his gum, a driver on the expressway is hogging the passing lane or the lady in the supermarket line smells like a perfume factory. The list of pet peeves is endless. Science journalists Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman charmingly cover common annoyances and the degree to which science explains them. Although they draw on serious academic research throughout, the authors never take themselves too seriously. The result is a clever, revealing and thoroughly entertaining look at why certain sounds, tastes, smells and behaviors drive you up the wall. Will the book enable you to tolerate that buzzing fly or the endless wait at the post office? Maybe not, but getAbstract believes that you’re bound to look at the world around you a little differently – and probably with a dose of good-natured resignation.