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A review by ryanberger
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer
4.0
Before picking this book up, let one thing be clear: This is not a self-help book that will teach you the secret potential of your brain or help you master your concentration.
It doesn't need to be.
What MWI IS is the story of Joshua Foer's journey from an outsider to a group of eccentric brainiacs to a national champion in the art of memory. It's also a fascinating history lesson into some of the most archaic minds to ever live and a crash course in the psychology of now we remember, the ways in which we learn and retain information, and even how we create new concepts and ideas from the memories we keep.
There are at least a few handy tools you'll pick up along the way that will likely help your short and long term memory, as well as the information you need to go down the rabbit hole yourself and start attuning your brain to the parlor tricks (and that's all they are, as you'll come to realize) that could have you memorizing pi or decks of playing cards.
Even though the brain is a galaxy in it of itself that we are still so far from understanding, the things we can infer based on several animal-brained mechanisms in the anatomy and programming of the brain help reveal the inner-workings of thought.
It's a phenomenal, easy read with some pretty entertaining prose. Foer is simultaneously distanced and curious enough to ask all the right questions and explain things to the uninitiated while also holding nothing behind the curtain when it comes to his own story and how he became a lunatic for a year to reach the mountaintop of memory. The fact that Foer put his money where his mouth is to win the memory championship (albeit with a little bit of luck) goes a long way towards making the reader feel grounded and the writing believable.
Half serious note: Goodreads does not allow you to hedge your review and give you the decimal points between each star rating (rightfully so). The book is much closer to a five than a four, so I'm more than happy to give it that rating. If I were a coward and could rate a score of say, 4.5, I would probably do so because of the name and cover of the book. Point blank: the cover is hideous and by far the worst looking thing on my shelf. Not only that, but the title makes my whole body cringe, and there's no way I can recommend the book because it's just too embarrassing to speak the name out loud. It sounds like the bullshit pseudoscience the book warns against, and the payoff in the actual text to justify the title is somewhat noteworthy, but I'm certain it should have been left on the cutting room floor.
Wonderful book. Horrendous aesthetics.
It doesn't need to be.
What MWI IS is the story of Joshua Foer's journey from an outsider to a group of eccentric brainiacs to a national champion in the art of memory. It's also a fascinating history lesson into some of the most archaic minds to ever live and a crash course in the psychology of now we remember, the ways in which we learn and retain information, and even how we create new concepts and ideas from the memories we keep.
There are at least a few handy tools you'll pick up along the way that will likely help your short and long term memory, as well as the information you need to go down the rabbit hole yourself and start attuning your brain to the parlor tricks (and that's all they are, as you'll come to realize) that could have you memorizing pi or decks of playing cards.
Even though the brain is a galaxy in it of itself that we are still so far from understanding, the things we can infer based on several animal-brained mechanisms in the anatomy and programming of the brain help reveal the inner-workings of thought.
It's a phenomenal, easy read with some pretty entertaining prose. Foer is simultaneously distanced and curious enough to ask all the right questions and explain things to the uninitiated while also holding nothing behind the curtain when it comes to his own story and how he became a lunatic for a year to reach the mountaintop of memory. The fact that Foer put his money where his mouth is to win the memory championship (albeit with a little bit of luck) goes a long way towards making the reader feel grounded and the writing believable.
Half serious note: Goodreads does not allow you to hedge your review and give you the decimal points between each star rating (rightfully so). The book is much closer to a five than a four, so I'm more than happy to give it that rating. If I were a coward and could rate a score of say, 4.5, I would probably do so because of the name and cover of the book. Point blank: the cover is hideous and by far the worst looking thing on my shelf. Not only that, but the title makes my whole body cringe, and there's no way I can recommend the book because it's just too embarrassing to speak the name out loud. It sounds like the bullshit pseudoscience the book warns against, and the payoff in the actual text to justify the title is somewhat noteworthy, but I'm certain it should have been left on the cutting room floor.
Wonderful book. Horrendous aesthetics.