Original Sin

“A serious and knotty book . . . Harden draws movingly on autobiographical material. . . . Ultimately, this is a well-informed attack on an American style of justice that relies on notions of sin and punishment. . . . A darkly glittering book.”—The Times

“[Harden writes] . . . with rare, dangerous honesty. . . . In this complex, thought-provoking book Harden explores the stories of some of the worst people you have heard of . . . and asks her readers to contemplate an uncomfortable question: these people are not so very different from you and I. So how should a just society treat them?”—The Guardian

“An extraordinary book, the very best of science writing, because it is about not just science—it is memoir, history, bleeding-edge genetics, and a completely original take on original sin. . . . Thrilling, entertaining, provocative, brilliant.”—Adam Rutherford, author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived

“Not a dry, restrained, contained scientific inquiry but a daring, complex, sometimes confounding and ultimately powerful tapestry of a book . . . The last few chapters sing, moving with propulsive momentum and elegant logic from dog-training and child-rearing to corporal punishment, mass incarceration, and ultimately, hope for the future.”—The New York Times Book Review

“An ambitious, compact, and often moving contribution to the literature at the intersection of genetics and ethics. It is magnificent to have an established scientist such as Harden address social, political, religious, and deeply personal issues in the context of scientific work meant for public consumption. The book should serve as a nucleation point for broad, intense, and enlightening discussion.”—Science

“Unique, expansive, and illuminating—a mix of religion and genetics that interweaves intensely personal storytelling with rigidly objective science to explore big questions about the bad things we have the capacity to do.”—John Higgs, author of William Blake vs. the World

“Even if you have no interest in the concept of sin, this is a compelling read. Harden’s bottom line is that we subjective beings are morally responsible for our actions (sorry), despite the fact that we also tick along deterministically. This emotionally startling and intellectually erudite book explains why.”—Mark Solms, neuroscientist, psychoanalyst, and author of The Only Cure

“Original Sin offers an eye-opening perspective on possible genetic links to antisocial behavior. Those who can accept that there is nothing inherently amoral about having an unconventional experience of emotion will see the positive and potentially life-changing impact this understanding can have on stigmatized and marginalized antisocial youth.”—Patric Gagne, author of Sociopath

“A tour de force that invites us to go deep into questions about why people do terrible things and how we should treat them afterward.”—Gwen Adshead, author of The Devil You Know

“A powerful read that stops you dead in your tracks and forces you to think very deeply.”—Sue Black, author of All That Remains