THE MORAL MOLECULE The Source of Love and Prosperity

The author makes the interesting and provocative contention that the chemical compound oxytocin is the biological driver behind compassion, in essence the material that separates the good from the evil. He offers a bounty of theoretical and empirical evidence that gives even non-biologists an understanding of his point. It’s too bad, then, that his delivery as narrator causes the book to fall short of its potential. It’s written in the first person, and it’s clear the author cares deeply about the subject. But he keeps the tone of his voice in such a restrained range that listeners aren’t as emotionally engaged as they might be. The delivery sounds like a college lecture—designed to impart facts, not feelings. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2012]