Customer Reviews

Sleep Thieves

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I ordered this book just because Dr. Coren is my favorite author (How To Speak Dog, The Intelligence Of The Dogs, Why We Love The Dogs We Do). I was certain that I would find this book very interesting, and I wasn't wrong. This book is truly wonderful. He explains how many hours should we sleep and what happens to us if we don't. How our mental and physical health depends on sleep, and gives advices as to how to improve the quality of our sleep.

There is a test you can perform in order to understand how many hours of sleep you need. It's just great.

I wish all doctors read this masterpiece and instead of giving Valium or whatever to people with sleeping disorders, were giving them advices taken from this book. Once more, thank you Mr.Coren

This is that rare book which is, incredibly, both a page-turner and full of top-rate science and information. I learned an immense amount from it and was entertained in the process. Among the great, keep-it-on-your-shelf for reference topics are: foods and their effect on sleep, how to minimize jet-lag, and how much sleep different species of animals get (look up cats!). It's also a great resource for winning arguments with self-righteous, sleep-deprived workaholics. I liked this book so much that I used it as reference material for an extra lecture in the college psychology class I teach.

Sleep is one of the most common activities in our lives. As such, one would expect that everybody would know a lot about it.

This book shows that this is not the case. Our western work-ethos has led us to believe that sleeping is for weaklings and that sleeping very little is a sign of discipline and diligence . This book is full of examples of the results of that attitude. As a renowned researcher into the science of sleep, the Author is able to list a considerable number of instances where a lack of sleep did not only lead to less productivity, but led to downright disasters such as the sinking of the "Exxon Valdez" or the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

I found that the book gives a real insight into the importance of obtaining enough sleep. In my case, I found it convincing enough to change some of my habits and go to bed earlier, if need be. As the author shows, a like change throughout society might safe us billions of dollars per year.

I have read numerous books and articles on sleep research and I have yet to come across any book that even compares with this one. It is highly entertaining reading and enormously informative for those of us who are sleep-deprived, and even for those who are not. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject of sleep disorders, dreams, and the history of sleep. Filled with fascinating facts, statistics, and real-life stories about the need for a good-night's rest, this is one of the best books on the market, in my estimation. Sleep Thieves is worth every penny and can only serve to enlighten and encourage readers everywhere. Excellent reading!

What an outstanding book filled with facts about sleep, why we need it, how much we need it and what happens if we don't get enough of it. I'd recommend this book to every doctor in the country to help them understand what they go through and what that can mean to patients.

We spend a full third of our life sleeping, but what do we really know about it. Why do we sleep? What causes us to sleep? What happens when we sleep? All these questions remain unanswered, but scientists are working--dare I say it? oh, why not--around the clock to explain why we can't work around the clock.

Lighter in tone, and much more accessible to the most techno- or medio-phobic of lay readers is Sleep Thieves by Stanley Cohen. While Cohen's book does not have the same claim to impartial accuracy of the researcher, it gains ground by its engrossing style and an ability to merge folklore with medical studies. The whole, as it appears, is then dissected, and Cohen ends up destroying as many myths as Prof. Lavie in The Enchanted World of Sleep (in many cases, the same ones). Cohen does have a purpose with his book, and that is to say that as a culture, we are running up a "sleep debt"; that is, by denying ourselves the amount of sleep that our bodies need, we endanger ourselves and others. Before he gets to this conclusion, his common ground with Prof. Lavie is visited, including studies on sleep deprivation and its results, people's perceptions of sleep, and the amount of sleep that our bodies fall into without the self-regulating clock of the sun. His conclusion is tied together neatly, with a fine work of statistical research using the time lost and gained during the change from and to Daylight Savings Time. Lack of sleep, due to cultural demands, is a major cause of accidents that are often fatal.

Cohen's book, with its amazing conclusion that lives with you, makes it obvious that "sleep debt" is not just a funny phrase, but a real problem, and one that is being ignored by almost everyone. It is time, as Cohen ironically states, for us to wake up about sleep.

This is a book that will make you think. The author provides example after example of how sleep deprivation, even in small amounts, diminishes the quality of our lives. Mr. Coren examines the effect of sleep loss on children, teenagers, adults, and the elderly through scientific and anecdotal material. After reading this book, I made a concerted effort to get more sleep for the sake of those around me and to improve my life, personal and public. This "sleeper" issue (I can't resist the pun) deserves serious attention. Hopefully, this book will alert readers to the fallacy in the modern day view of sleep as nothing more than a waste of time

I loved this book--I thought it was extremely informative and well written. But I have one nitpick. Coren says that the creator of Coca-Cola "turned first to the cocoa plant, but not for the chocolate--he wanted the cocaine that is extracted from the leaves." There's a HUGE difference between cocoa and coca; that "o" makes all the difference in the world. I'm a little disappointed that no one caught that before the book came out.

This book presents an amazing clear, well-reasoned, and compelling case for more sleep and for taking lack of sleep seriously. I particularly like knowing the "low points" (1am to 4am and 1pm to 4pm) that we are naturally sleepy; and the various symptoms of lack of sleep (besides sleepiness), the personality changes such as irritablity, lack of motivation, lack of sense of humor. And it's so readable that I stayed up too late reading it :-) I wish it wasn't written so long ago, I'd love to read the most recent research - but this is one of those books I want everyone to read. Lack of sleep isn't just a mild annoyance one lives with, it's a problem that should be treated, and it's easy enough to treat (go to bed!)

This book was published over ten years ago; it would be interesting to know what current thinking is. I've read in magazines that we sleep more than we need, and that too much sleep can be bad for us, but this books cites plenty of research to the contrary and rings true to personal experience. Like other reviewers, I hope to change my own sleep habits, but the book makes the frightening point that, even if we ourselves sleep enough to remain alert, we are at the mercy of politicians, scientists, airline pilots, doctors and other road-users suffering from sleep deprivation. A recent article remarked that Mr Obama gets less sleep now he's President, as if this should be taken for granted. Someone said that every doctor should have a copy of this book - so should every politician.