The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

This book by Gabrielle Zevin was genuinely recommended once in the episodes we index, on Lex Fridman. The people who vouched for it on air: Lisa Feldman Barrett. It comes up in conversations about brain health, consciousness, relationships. Every quote below is verbatim, attributed, and linked to the exact second it was said. Sourced expert opinion, not medical advice.

A.J. Fikry's life is not what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is failing, and his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. He is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island and from Amelia, the Knightley Press sales rep who refuses to be deterred by A.J.'s bad attitude. And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore that gives A.J. the ability to see everything anew.

• “another book like that is um the storyed life of AJ FY um which is also a love story but in this case it's a love story between a little girl and her adopted dad”

  Why it counts as a recommendation: “another book like that”
  Lisa Feldman Barrett · Lex Fridman Podcast · Nov 202002:11:56

  Said during "Lisa Feldman Barrett: Love, Evolution, and the Human Brain | Lex Fridman Podcast #140". The episode features Lisa Feldman Barrett: A neuroscientist at Northeastern University and one of the most cited psychologists in the world, known for her theory of constructed emotion. She is the author of How Emotions Are Made and Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain. Neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett joins Lex Fridman for a freewheeling talk on love, brain evolution, free will, and consciousness.