A.M. NEEL is a writer, researcher, and full-time resident of Ketchum, Idaho. He is the author of ten books of narrative nonfiction exploring complex systems, human behavior, and the persistent tendency to build things that do not work the way they were supposed to—with subjects ranging from the history of American food safety to the unpredictable science of sleep.
Applying his fascination with flawed systems to the thriller genre, he is the author of the fiction novels White Out and the tech-noir mystery Almost Enough. When he isn’t writing or working at the valley's twice-weekly community newspaper, the Idaho Mountain Express, he coaches youth skiing and tennis at the Sun Valley Resort. He maintains a regular stool at the Casino and a working relationship with the pool tables. Neither is a metaphor.
A.M. NEEL is a writer, researcher, and full-time resident of Ketchum, Idaho. He is the author of ten books of narrative nonfiction exploring complex systems, human behavior, and the persistent tendency to build things that do not work the way they were supposed to—with subjects ranging from the history of American food safety to the unpredictable science of sleep.
Applying his fascination with flawed systems to the thriller genre, he is the...
A Perfect House. A Perfect Plan. A Record That Never Lies.
The Spur End Estate was built to be the most secure home in the Wood River Valley. Designed by tech visionary Layla Rowan, the house is governed by NILA, a sophisticated smart-home system that logs every heartbeat, every door latch, and every kilowatt of energy drawn from the grid. In...
The date on your food isn’t a scientific fact. It’s a business decision.
Every year, Americans throw away hundreds of millions of pounds of perfectly safe food because a date on a package told them to. That date wasn’t reviewed by the FDA. It wasn’t required by federal law. It was set by a manufacturer, using internal methodology no regulator...
Your brain was built to believe first. Evidence is optional.
You are a smart, rational person. You check facts. You distrust conspiracy theories. You would never ignore evidence just because it contradicts what you already think.
You would also like to believe that.
If It’s Irrational, Why Can’t I Stop? is a guided tour through the cognitive...
For years, my work has involved diving deep into complex realities. Whether that means untangling the history of our food safety networks or investigating the unpredictable science of sleep, I have found myself drawn to the same central theme in every narrative nonfiction project. It is the persistent human tendency to build elaborate systems that do not quite work the way we intended. We crave control. We want the ledger to balance.
That fascination is exactly what pulled me into the world of...
