Praise for annoying"Remarkable: a charming and insightful book that explains how studying what annoys you can make you both less annoyed and less annoying. I feel better already!"—Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail and Free"Who would have thought that one of the most charming, graceful, and informative books to come around in a long while is Annoying? You might have been told you are what you eat, but it is your annoyances that really define you. With cutting-edge science, wit, and an eye for a good story, Palca and Lichtman reveal the recent discoveries that tell us of the age-old problem of annoyance. Their book will forever change your view of the restaurant patron who loudly recounts his colonoscopy results over a cell phone."—Neil Shubin, author of Your Inner Fish"The science of the annoying? I was skeptical. But this book really delivers. In many chapters I saw myself and thought, 'Yeah, I understand, that is exactly how I feel.' Trouble is, now, with understanding, my tolerance for the annoying has plummeted."—Carol Greider, Director of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2009"Annoying is smart, funny, insightful, and downright wonderful to read. Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman not only illuminate the science of annoyance itself but the often lunatic nature of daily life in the twenty-first century. Read it—the only annoying thing about it is that it's too short."—Deborah Blum, author of The Poisoner's Handbook"It's rare to encounter a book that could launch a new scientific subdiscipline. Annoying may do just that. Palca and Lichtman survey thinking in psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience, intermixing research with anecdotes, insights, and theories, to examine the scientifically neglected subject of annoyances. This book is a fascinating read for anyone who has ever