Why We Sleep

Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams

By: Matthew Walker PhD PhD

Narrated by: Steve West

“Why We Sleep is an important and fascinating book…Walker taught me a lot about this basic activity that every person on Earth needs. I suspect his book will do the same for you.” —Bill Gates

A New York Times bestseller and international sensation, this “stimulating and important book” (Financial Times) is a fascinating dive into the purpose and power of slumber.

With two appearances on CBS This Morning and Fresh Air's most popular interview of 2017, Matthew Walker has made abundantly clear that sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life. Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating health consequences when it is absent. Compared to the other basic drives in life—eating, drinking, and reproducing—the purpose of sleep remains more elusive.

Within the brain, sleep enriches a diversity of functions, including our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions. It recalibrates our emotions, restocks our immune system, fine-tunes our metabolism, and regulates our appetite. Dreaming creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge, inspiring creativity.

In this “compelling and utterly convincing” (The Sunday Times) book, preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker provides a revolutionary exploration of sleep, examining how it affects every aspect of our physical and mental well-being. Charting the most cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs, and marshalling his decades of research and clinical practice, Walker explains how we can harness sleep to improve learning, mood and energy levels, regulate hormones, prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes, slow the effects of aging, and increase longevity. He also provides actionable steps towards getting a better night’s sleep every night.

Clear-eyed, fascinating, and accessible, Why We Sleep is a crucial and illuminating book. Written with the precision of Atul Gawande, Andrew Solomon, and Sherwin Nuland, it is “recommended for night-table reading in the most pragmatic sense” (The New York Times Book Review).

Good basic information

This was a good book, but had some very basic information in it. If you are looking for ways to help you sleep better, find something else. If you are wanting to understand the benefits of sleeping or detriments of not sleeping, this is very good. I enjoyed the narration.

Highly Recommended

There is a nice PDF for this book with charts and graphs that are quite useful to review before (or during) listening to this book.

Clearly the author has strong views about the importance of sleep, and perhaps goes a little overboard with his passion. Nevertheless there is a lot of interesting, important, and actionable information about sleep in this book.

I learned quite a bit, relearned quite a bit, and was convinced about the importance of good quality sleep. I would highly recommend this to anyone, particularly anyone with any trouble sleeping. Even if you sleep really well, this book is interesting to learn about the powerful effects of poor quality sleep on keds, doctors, drivers, and others.

The narration is completely excellent with good clarity, good pacing, and very good energy.

Fascinating book on sleep, highly recommended!

I️ was searching for a book on the science behind sleep, and I️ definitely found it! The author did a phenomenal job explaining all things sleep. From benefits, to diseases, to harmful impacts and more. I️ love learning the science behind things, and this book definitely delivered in that aspect.

In terms of practically, if you’ve ever read anything on how to sleep better I️ doubt you’ll find something new here. But this book doesn’t promise “how to sleep better” so I’m not docking it for that. I️ do recommend “Sleep Smarter” by Shawn Stevenson if you want more practical tips on how to sleep better. That being said, I️ have never been so motivated to get a consistent sleeping schedule than after/ while reading this book. For me, the book is worth it for that alone.

The narration was ehhh, I️ would give it a 3.5. I️ liked the authors voice but I️ did not finding him engaging, at all. To me it seems like he assumed people would be listening to this right before bed and read with a relaxed tone. However, it is definitely not bad enough to where I️ wouldn’t listen to it again.

The only part I️ thought was silly was when the author was trying to emphasize the evolutionary importance of sleep and he tries to flip the question of “why we sleep” to “why ever need to wake up?” Well let’s see there is food, water and sex, just to name a few reasons. Other than that I️ loved the book and think it’s well worth your credit!

A MUST FOR LITERALLY ANYONE

This is a mind blowing book, there’s so many things we’re neglecting about sleep, we should as individuals and society know a lot more about what should indeed take a third of our lives.

Importante book to read but too long

Everyone must read about sleep. But this book has some sections not so relevant like sleep of animals. Skim over the overly scientific bits and replay the bits about the damage of lack of sleep to humans.