For the religious and athiests alike

Name of the book: The Evolution of God
Worth-the-price-tag-iness Score: 8/10

Let's play Q and A.... Why do human beings care about God? Is he/it/she/(or else) are they a construct of the human imagination, created for the sole purpose of easing our over-taxed mind? What was the religion of early humans (the hunter-gatherers) like? Considering that we descended from them, why aren't our gods more like theirs? Why don't we (today) cure evil spirits by beating the body of the man that they possess?

I have the answer to the last one: because it's illegal, for one, and also because it is against our sensibilities and finally most religions of today (I'm hoping) would prohibit it. For answers to the rest of the above questions I suggest you read (between the lines of) Robert Wright's newest book "The Evolution of God", which is on the NYT's list of 100 best books of 2009. It's a long and arduous read but worth it if you want fodder to throw around at folks at a cocktail party. I personally stopped halfway through it due to sheer exhaustion... :)

Also from the same author: Non Zero Sum: The Logic of Human Destiny (apparently recommended reading by Bill Clinton)