Why do we slow down to look at car accidents? Why would rich people shoplift? What draws people to parachuting, hooliganism, or sadistic sex? These are just some of the questions and conundrums Apter investigates in a fascinating study of our paradoxial appetite for danger and risk-taking. Danger: Our Quest for Excitement explains how even in dangerous situations (often because of them!) anxiety becomes excitement and fear, exhilaration--transforming the horrifying into the heavenly. An intellectual tour de force, Danger throws light on a critically important but often neglected force of human nature and culture.