Stoned

Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World

By: Aja Raden

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

What makes a stone a jewel? What makes a jewel priceless? And why do we covet beautiful things? In this brilliant account of how eight jewels shaped the course of history, jeweler and scientist Aja Raden tells an original and often startling story about our unshakeable addiction to beauty and the darker side of human desire.

What moves the world is what moves each of us: desire. Jewelry - which has long served as a stand-in for wealth and power, glamour and success - has birthed cultural movements, launched political dynasties, and started wars. Masterfully weaving together pop science and history, Stoned breaks history into three categories - want, take, and have - and explains what the diamond on your finger has to do with the GI Bill, why green-tinted jewelry has been exalted by so many cultures, why the glass beads that bought Manhattan for the Dutch were initially considered a fair trade, and how the French Revolution started over a coveted necklace. Studded with lively personalities and fascinating details, Stoned tells the remarkable story of our abiding desire for the rare and extraordinary.

©2015 Aja Raden (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

" Stoned is an intriguing take on world history with plenty of adornment and anecdote to entertain us along the way." ( Self Awareness)

So interesting!

Great book, I loved how it combines history and the fashion world.

Best quote, “In the end, there is no reality to what’s real.”

Not What I Expected But Still A Good Listen

The book was not what I expected in that it contained more history to prove the author's points regarding the psychology of wearing/desiring jewelry. Nonetheless, it was still worth the listen. Luckily I enjoy history. The author's biases are readily apparent but it's easy enough to disregard them and enjoy the history stories and how jewelry fit into them and helped shaped the events of the day. I learned many things I was previously not aware of.

Surprising, Enlightening, and Great Reading

My interests are history, philosophy, and neuroscience, and Raden delivers a fascinating story drawing from all three. If you're looking for a dry, formal thesis (like some other reviewers of the book), then look at and digest her sources. If, however, you like an occasional burst of laughter at a clever metaphor or twist of phrase from an sharp-edged and educated mind, this is a book for you. The underlying theme of Stoned is that of VALUES, how we form them, experience them, and how they affect history and our weird human behavior. For an iconoclast like myself, the story and the style are refreshing, enlightening, and hard to put down. Some parts were more interesting than others, of course, but the mix of history and the part played by jewels, which I'd never have thought would capture my attention, turn out to be both entertaining and informative. The reader, too, does a splendid job (though I caught about ten trivial mispronunciations of English words). I would have to say, though, that playing it at 1.25 speed makes it much more engaging and easier to follow. At 1.0 (default) speed, it is too slow - though possibly necessary for some readers.

Funny, interesting and a must read

Don't let the cover and topic of shiny things fool you this book is about adventure, greed, pirates and how our brains work all wrapped up in history.

Brilliant

I'm loving this this book. Jewelry, geology, history, Russia, The Tudors, Marie Antoinette, marketing, neuromarketing, psychology sociology, everything I love to read about, all in one book!