Honky Dalton Conley

A pioneering scientist presents a mind-expanding account of the sociogenomics revolution, which promises to upend everything we know about human development.

Over the past three decades, our daily lives have changed slowly but dramatically. Boundaries between leisure and work, public space and private space, and home and office have blurred and become permeable. How many of us now work from home, our wireless economy allowing and encouraging us to work 24/7? How many of us talk to our children while scrolling through e-mails on our BlackBerrys? How many of us feel overextended, as we are challenged to play multiple roles – worker, boss, parent, spouse, friend, and client – all in the same instant? Dalton Conley, social scientist and writer, provides us with an X-ray view of our new social reality.

The Essential by Earl Thomas Conley highlights the gruff-voiced country singer's 20 chart-topping entries from the late '70s and early '80s. These original RCA recordings include "Holding Her and Loving You," "Angel in Disguise," "Chance of Loving You," and his first number one single, "Fire and Smoke." The only complaint about this set is the omission of Conley's duets with Emmylou Harris ("We Believe in Happy Endings," number one in 1988) and Anita Pointer ("Too Many Times").