The international bestseller on memory and how to master it
Joshua Foer studied evolutionary biology at Yale University and is now a freelance science journalist, writing for National Geographic and The New York Times among others. Researching an article on the US Memory Championships, Foer became intrigued by the potential of his own memory. After just one year of training, he won the following year's Championship.
I'd never thought much about whether I could improve my memory, but
I now think I could after reading Joshua Foer's book ... It's
absolutely phenomenal, one of the most interesting books I've read
this summer
*Bill Gates*
A marvelous overview of one of the most essential aspects of what
makes us human - our memory ... Witty and engaging
*Dan Ariely*
Memory...makes us who we are...passionate and deeply engrossing
...The more we challenge ourselves, the greater our capacity. It's
a fact that every teacher, parent and student would do well to
learn. The lesson is unforgettable.
*Washington Post*
Captivating ... Engaging ... Mr. Foer writes in these pages with
fresh enthusiasm. His narrative is smart and funny
*New York Times*
[D]elightful...empathetic, thought-provoking and...memorable.
*Prospect*
Riotous
*New York Times*
[An] endearingly geeky world...witty and revelatory...[The] journey
certainly demonstrates how much memory matters...Apart from
anything else, filling up our mental storehouses in the right way
can make life feel longer.
*Guardian*
In this marvelous book, Joshua Foer invents a new genre of
non-fiction. This is a work of science journalism wrapped around an
adventure story, a bildungsroman fused to a vivid investigation of
human memory. If you want to understand how we remember, and how we
can all learn to remember better, then read this book
*Jonah Lehrer*
One year, Joshua Foer is covering the US Memory Championships as a
freelance journalist, the next he returns as a competitor - and
wins it...How he pulled off this extraordinary feat forms the spine
of this crisply entertaining book.
*Sunday Times*
Combines erudite analysis, historical context, a mind-bending
adventure and extremely suggestive sex - some of it involving
Foer's grandmother.
*Sunday Times*
A labyrinthine personal journey that explains how our author ended
up in the finals of the US Memory Championship - a compelling story
arc from sceptical journalist to dedicated participant. I can't
remember when I last found a science book so intriguing.
*Literary Review*
[A] charming book...interwoven with informed exposition about the
psychological science of memory.
*Nature*
A fascinating, engaging and very well-written book.
*Science Focus*
Addictive and fascinating...extraordinary. [Foer] attended the US
Memory Championship as a journalist and returned the next year as a
competitor and won...It is Foer's gifts as a teacher and a
storyteller that make this book essential reading.
*Scottish Sunday Express*
Take, for example, the emergence of Downing Street as a salon for
intellectuals from around the world, and not only economists and
political scientists. Under David Cameron-or, more accurately,
Steve Hilton, the prime minister's most influential adviser-the
thinkers invited to hold court there often have little to say about
policy per se. Joshua Foer, a young American who has written an
acclaimed book about how memory works, was a recent guest. Mr
Hilton's rationale is that governments have more to learn from
fields of research that investigate how humans behave, such as
neuroscience and social psychology, than from conventional
technocrats. There is now a policy team devoted to "behaviourial
insight" in the Cabinet Office.
*Bagehot, The Economist*
Foer's book is great fun and hugely readable, not least because the
author is a likeable sort of Everyman-science nerd whom we want to
become a memory champion. Always fascinating and frequently
mind-boggling, Moonwalking with Einstein is a book worth
remembering.
*The Independent*
In 2005, science journalist Foer covered a bizarre annual contest called the U.S. Memory Championship, thinking it would be the Super Bowl of savants. But he soon discovered that the contestants were mere mortals who had trained themselves to remember by using ancient techniques that just about anyone can learn. Under the tutelage of Ed Cooke, a grand master of memory, Foer wound up entering the contest a year later-and winning. (He used a mnemonic, Moonwalking with Einstein, to help him memorize a shuffled deck of playing cards.) During the year of testing, training, and researching, Foer mastered the ages-old secret to remembering any piece of information fast-by building a "memory palace" to house associated images. Foer's book explores the how and why of human memory both as the focus of his own experiment and as a journalist, sharing what he learned from scientists, educators, and amnesiacs alike. His "unforgettable" story coaches readers that we too can do whatever we set our minds to and celebrates the untapped potential of the human computer in our age of external hard drives. Angelina Benedetti manages three libraries for Washington's King County Library System and is the voice of "35 Going On 13," Library Journal's online column for adult readers of books for teens. She is the recipient of the 2011 Allie Beth Martin Award for her contribution to public libraries. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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