Viney captures the full range of nontwin response, among much else ... Viney acknowledges the dangers of reading too much into twinhood ... Perhaps our fascination with twins is the result of that enduring, mysterious fact: As singletons, we can never really understand what it means to be multiple.
A dazzling, illustration-rich book ... A fascinating, wide-ranging compendium of facts and stories about twins through the centuries and around the world.
Tracks the history of twin study and scholarship in the scientific community, some of which has revealed stories of twins unknowingly separated at birth and making uncannily parallel life choices.
Scintillating ... Viney draws on a dizzying array of articles, anecdotes, and myths (including plenty of non-Western examples), and enriches the narrative with striking photos. It’s a meticulous inquiry into a subject of perennial fascination.
Viney often focuses on controversial studies and the belief that identical twins have a paranormal connection, expressing mild skepticism but only after providing many vivid anecdotes. Other authors delve more deeply, but it’s unlikely that any match his spectacular illustrations, which occupy as much space as the text. A visually fascinating study featuring dazzling photographs and artwork.
