Demo Quake books

I was recently introduced to the concept of a “Quake book” — a book that changed the way you looked at things in a profound and persistant way.  As one blogger characterized his concept derived from a conversation between polymath Tyler Cowen and Ryan Holiday …

Every once in a while, I stumble across something really wild. Gray matter lurches and heaves. Neural pathways are destroyed and rebuilt. When the tremors finally stop, nothing looks the same. My meat-computer has been jolted out of its old familiar ruts, and into a new and unfamiliar area of idea-space. I am shooketh.

The authors acknowledge that most “quake” experiences occur when you are young … that mental models settle in thereafter and are less frequently challenged … or at least less succesfully challenged.  That said, later-in-life epiphanies do occur.  So let’s share the Big Books that shook you.  Add your book(s) and a brief explanation of the ‘quake you experienced.  Feel free to make multiple entries, one per comment.   BTW, I’ll harvest them from the comment field below and paste them in this handy table that you can skim and read more easily.

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