Why We Dream

In a book that looks at the historical and social importance of dreams, and analyzes the latest science, Robb attempts to correct our misguided forsaking of this feature of our unconscious. Dreams don’t make for boring conversation, Robb argues in this persuasive, personable book.Vogue

Why We Dream is a spirited rebuke to the idea of sleep as a mere parting with consciousness. In exploring the pleasures and uses of dreams, [Alice Robb] seeks to persuade us that sleep is not just the “off” to waking’s “on” but another realm of being, a second consciousness, rich in adventure and wisdom... In celebrating dreams as poetic artifacts, Robb offers a welcome antidote to the medicine administered by most sleep gurus.New Yorker

Why We Dream is a spirited, cogent defense of dreams and dream-telling...We may not know why dreams 'traffic in garbled metaphor and disjointed imagery,' but by learning to decode them, we can learn to decode ourselves... All we need to do, Robb wants us to know, is pay attention.NPR

For anyone who's ever kept a dream journal or fixated on the idea of lucid dreaming, a thorough exploration of the mysterious nightly phenomenon from a scientific point of view.Elle