Excellent! Dr. Dutton examines the phenomenon of the psychopathic personality from every angle, positive and negative, and makes the resulting study lively, fascinating, and serious but also often funny. He explores the latest science at the time of writing (2009) seeking explanations of how and why some people are psychopaths, how they think and behave, and even undergoes an experimental procedure with a trancranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) machine - one I'd love to try too - to have his own brain very temporarily rendered psychopathic, so he can experience and report first-hand on what it's like to live inside such a mind.

He also looks at the presence, sometimes merely useful and sometimes absolutely essential, of some but not all of the traits of a psychopath in the people who are the very best in a number of professions and ways of life ranging from politicians and lawyers through law enforcement and special forces personnel to advanced Buddhist monks (something that was unsettling to a Buddhist friend and meditation instructor when I told her about it.) He also examines the question of whether our culture as a whole is becoming more psychopathic (it seems that it is), why, and what implications that has for the future.

Definitely a must-read for anyone interested in psychology, crime and the law, brain science, and trends in Western society.