Home

Praise for Home: “Readers interested in anthropology and the cultural exploration of why humans have created the idea of home and what this idea means will enjoy John S. Allen’s exploration in this newly published volume… [His] writing style is clear and straightforward.” –New York Journal of Books “[Allen] investigates the neuroscience and psychology of ‘feeling at home’ and how that feeling has granted an adaptive advantage to the human species, enabling the advances in culture and technology that separate us from our primate cousins. At a time when many people around the world lack a place to call their own, Allen shows why we all deserve one.” –Scientific American “[An] engaging and informative natural history.” –Barbara J. King, Washington Post “More than anything, research by Allen and his colleagues shows that notions of sanctuary, certainty and the consequent capacity to relax are key to our concept of home, how we identify it and why we need it. An affirming read for the commute home.” –New Scientist “Thought-provoking…Most intriguingly, Mr. Allen suggests that a feeling of being tied to a specific place may be linked in our early hominid ancestors.” –Wall Street Journal “[A] well-presented natural history… The author guides readers through unfamiliar territory by looking at feelings of home as a cornerstone of human cognition, as basic perhaps as language… The perspective that Allen brings to this work makes clear that one can buy a house, but a home is built on evolutionary history, cultural traditions, technological advances, psychological factors, and personal experiences. Excellent supplementary reading for a variety of college courses, but the book’s scope and accessibility make this one for general readers, too.” –Kirkus Reviews “I have enjoyed reading Home: It has helped me put together just what disparate factors our real estate really represents, what is its real meaning and value.” –Robert Shiller, Nobel Laureate in Economics “This important book by John Allen ranges from prehistory, in which the changing concept of ‘home’ played a major role in making us the humans we are, to modern times, in which eviction and homelessness are frequent horrors of the present. Allen thus alerts us to something we tend to overlook because we take it for granted: the central role in all our lives of our ‘homes.’” –George A. Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics

John Allen is a neuroanthropologist and research scientist at the Dornsife Cognitive Neuroscience Imaging centre and the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California. He is also research associate in the Department of Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington. The author of several trade books and textbooks, Allen lives near Lexington, Kentucky.

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