Moonwalking with Einstein

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
Author(s)	Joshua Foer
Country	United States of America
Language	English
Subject(s)	Memory Mnemonics
Genre(s)	Nonfiction
Publisher	Penguin Books
Publication date	3 March 2011
Media type	Print (Hardcover) audiobook ebook
Pages	320
ISBN	978-1594202292
LC Classification	BF385 .F64 2011

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything is a nonfiction book by Joshua Foer, first published in 2011.^[1] Moonwalking with Einstein debuted at no. 3 on The New York Times bestseller list and stayed on the list for 8 weeks.^[2]

Contents

• The smartest man is hard to find
• The man who remembered too much
• The expert expert
• The most forgetful man in the world
• The memory palace
• How to memorize a poem
• The end of remembering
• The ok plateau
• The talented tenth
• The little rain man in all of us
• The US memory championships

Synopsis

Foer describes his book as participatory journalism. He sets out to investigate the underpinnings behind people with enhanced memory and ends up at the 2005 U.S. Memory Championship to find out people who may pocess extraordinary abilities. He returns the following year as a real contender for the grand title, after immersing himself in the techniques of mnemonics developed by the ancient world that he discovered on his first visit.

Reception

Peter Conrad in The Observer view Foer's account as reality TV in book form, stating: "After performing the tricks required of him, he is ushered off into oblivion; by telling the story all over again five years later, he is hoping to prolong his meagre allocation of fame and persuade the world to remember his name. But I have too much on my mind, and now intend to exercise my prerogative as a thinker by forgetting him."^[3] Claire Lambrecht for Salon found the book interesting, she writes: "Foer talks with people from both spectrums of the memory divide -- from Kim Peek, the inspiration for the 1988 movie "Rain Man," to the guy dubbed "The Most Forgetful Man in the World" -- and their conversations offer insight into the relevance of memory in a society increasingly dominated by smart phones, Google and Wikipedia."^[4] Alexandra Horowitz for The New York Times felt initially uncomfortable with Foer's lewd mnemonics, however she goes on to say: "Irregular images aside, Foer’s missteps are few... But Foer is too engaging to put us off. His assemblage of personal mnemonic images is riotous. He makes suspenseful an event animated mostly by the participants’ “dramatic temple massaging.” "^[5]

References

1. ^ Foer, Joshua (2011). Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1594202292. 
2. ^ "Bestsellers: Hardcover nonfiction". The New York Times. 27 March 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2011-03-27/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html. Retrieved 21 September 2011. 
3. ^ Conrad, Peter (17 April 2011). "Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer – review: Joshua Foer's account of his quest to become US memory champion is a dreary and pointless celebration of trivia". The Observer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/apr/17/moonwalking-einstein-joshua-foer-review. Retrieved 21 September 2011. 
4. ^ Lambrecht, Claire (6 March 2011). ""Moonwalking With Einstein": How to remember everything: Can memory actually be taught? Why do dirty images help? Joshua Foer explains how to stop forgetting". Interview with the author. Salon.com. http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/03/06/foer_moonwalking_with_einstein. Retrieved 21 September 2011. 
5. ^ Horowitz, Alexandra (13 March 2011). "How to Memorize Everything". The New York Times Sunday Book Review. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/books/review/book-review-moonwalking-with-einstein-by-joshua-foer.html?pagewanted=all. Retrieved 21 September 2011.