# Alchemy by Rory Sutherland

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Alchemy by Rory Sutherland and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Readers say it opens their eyes to surprising ideas about how people make decisions, and it helps with understanding marketing and business. No recurring criticism of the book appears in the quotes.

## Why people recommend it

- Surprising ideas about decision-making (2 comments): "deeply interesting ideas I would not have notices if they hadn't been pointed out to me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48681307)) "this book was a real eye opener around how people actually make decisions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47269989))
- Recommended by readers as essential (2 comments): "I would strongly recommend the book Alchemy by Rory Sutherland" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47809388)) "people really need to read alchemy by roy Sutherland" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50130875))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg.md): 40 recommend
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death.md): 36 recommend
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation.md): 24 recommend
- [Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bullshit-jobs.md): 20 recommend
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification.md): 19 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062388436?tag=YOURTAG-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/YOURID/9780062388438) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Alchemy by Rory Sutherland", https://hackerapproved.com/p/alchemy/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).