"Mr. Boyle, a professor of law at American University in Washington, argues that neither economics nor political theory tells us how much to privatize intellectual creation...Many high-sounding legal explanations, he demonstrates, are based on ad hoc, and often unarticulated, guesses about costs and benefits. Only solid facts can tell us, for example, whether the Internet on balance supresses intellectual creation by facilitating piracy or promotes creation by facilitating legitimate distribution."

"Boyle's jazzily written book is an unusual hybrid for a law professor. It aims both to formulate a `critical social theory of the information society' and to galvanize opposition to pending proposals which would expand intellectual-property protection in the U.S. and internationally."

"Readers who make the effort to follow Mr. Boyle's careful reasoning will come away rewarded. This is a valuable contribution to a debate that can only grow more heated as time goes on...If toll booths begin to spring up all over the information highway and only people riding in limos can pony up the tariff to proceed ahead, this book will be able to tell you why it happened."

"If Boyle does succeed in...reframing the debate about intellectual property rights, it won't be just because his prose is lucid...nor because his cause is just...Rather, it will be because the key new phenomena he describes...so disrupt traditional roles that many people will find themselves on an unaccustomed side of the intellectual property debate and, so, will want to rethink the conventional wisdom. Those who find themselves in that position will be able to turn to Shamans, Software, and Spleens for a crash course on where the conceptual bodies are buried."

"[S]timulating and entertaining...Boyle's thesis is that liberal political theory conjures up a historically contingent and culturally specific vision of scientists, authors, and producers of technology as romantic authors (inventors and creators, founts of original genius, in the image of God) to resolve such tensions and solve such problems [of property rights in information]...[He offers] insightful and very sharp analyses."

"Boyle does not use his title merely to grab the reader's attention. He also uses it to signal that his work will not be yet another dreary academic dissertation. Boyle delivers on the promise of his title. His book proves an enjoyable read; and he also explores the connection among shamans, software, and spleens...Boyle aims to reconstruct the notion of authorship in order to facilitate more balance in copyright policy. No one who reads Boyle's book can fail to detect the pleasure he takes in a well-turned phrase. From this alone, it should be apparent that Boyle does not oppose authors' rights except to the extent that romantic notions about authorship lead to inefficient or unjust legal outcomes."

"In Shamans, Software, and Spleens, James Boyle guides the reader through a number of thought-provoking instances [of] conflicts that arise between profit and originality; what is legally correct but ethically questionable; and the long debated controversies on fair and unfair use of information...[He] has devoted a large portion of the book to real life examples that assist the reader in understanding the various ways we know think about information. It deals with the tensions within our current patterns of thought and the unintended consequences that might occur as we rely--consciously or not--on those patterns to create the legal and institutional frameworks of an information society."

"[James Boyle] has written an eloquent, provocative, and highly readable book on the fundamental question for the information age. Who owns the end result of intellectual creation? And, more importantly, should anyone really be allowed to own it?...[This is an] impressive work...Professor Boyle has articulated an incisive view of intellectual property that deserves our respect and attention."

"For all those who, like me, are afflicted with information age phobia, here is the cure--a brilliant, accessible, and even funny account of how advances in technology have exploded long-held notions of authorship, personhood, and property. This is one information highway you can travel with both pleasure and profit."

"Why does James Boyle include 'Spleens' in the title of this bold book? You'll have to read at least Chapter 9 to find out. If you read more, you'll discover any number of acute insights about any number of things--all linked by a capacious concern with rights in information."

"This is an exciting and suggestive study. The subject--intellectual property in the `information age'--is as timely as one can imagine, and Boyle has very interesting things to say on a variety of relevant topics...There has been nothing so far quite like Boyle's study, which goes beyond copyright issues in its concern and which provides many new insights into the practical significance of the romantic author paradigm."

"Highly original. Very few scholars have attempted a comprehensive evaluation of the wide variety of legal fields pertaining to property rights in information and intellectual creation...The writing is crisp, learned, irreverent, and funny."

"Boyle's book is an important contemporary addition to a range of historical works on authorship, textual studies, and the theory of property."

"In this masterly book, James Boyle takes one of the mind-twisting subjects of our times--the treatment of information--and turns it into enjoyable and informative reading. The ownership and commoditization of knowledge, biogenetic resources, and human genetic materials are increasingly the focus of international debate. Boyle's discussion of these issues reflects a remarkable understanding of intellectual, cultural, and scientific property rights, and provides astute insights into the nature of innovation, creativity, and knowledge in the information age."