A fascinating dive into what authors should know about the brain science of how and why we read. Gelfan (Monkey Temple) connects breakthroughs in cognitive science to effective writing in this incisive guide, focusing on how the brain “extracts meaning” from the world—and what authors can extract from that knowledge. Noting that there’s no one path to success as an author but “some reliably watertight guarantors of failure,” Gelfan undercuts the templates and inflexible rules of many other books about the craft of writing. For Gelfan, compelling writing is about “learning how to think about what you’re trying to do and then coming up with creative and effective ideas for how to do it”—and knowing something about how the brain processes writing helps, too. He urges authors toward innovation, using the power of subtext, and understanding why we read and write in the first place, all while offering some concrete advice, like avoiding too much detail in prose to invite the brains of readers to fill in the missing links.