shareen17's review

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4.0

I always thought people with excellent memories had God-given gifts, but this author makes it sound just like a lot of hard work. I'm not sure if I find that optimistic or depressing. This book has some interesting background on memory, profiles of unique people, and a little bit about the techniques people use to memorize information. I thought the information about overcoming plateaus and becoming an expert was useful, as was the information about the memory palace. This writer has that informal, conversational style of writing that seems popular in nonfiction right now.

staticmemories's review

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

imminentmurphy's review

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informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

3.0

leaknezevic's review against another edition

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funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

waynediane's review

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3.0

So So book. Joshua an internet reporter follows and reports on the World Memory Championships. He decides to practice under a few guru's for the next year. Discusses some tactics for remembering things. Eh?

lily90's review

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Read for class but didn’t wind up needing to finish it 

tara_pikachu's review

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4.0

this was interesting in the sense that a regular journalist tries his hand at competing at the U.S memory championships...and actually wins it through ancient but upgraded memory techniques. i get the notion that he set out to debunk the skills of mental 'savants'...being the inquisitive person that he is. nevertheless, a fun read.

drsldn's review

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5.0

brilliant it inspired me to curate a display about memory palaces and the home.

melissax's review against another edition

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funny informative slow-paced

2.75

osc's review

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4.0

* Quirky Topic

* Well written, easy read

* Doesn't go deeply into any mnemonic techniques

This book dives into the idea of memory improvement in a time where most of us use Google as our memory. The US Memory championship in New York, one of the major threads of this book, is an ultra niche event(I had never heard of it prior to reading this book). Mr. Foer does a masterful job of introducing us to the feel of the event, how it's viewed worldwide, and of course, some of the colorful characters that populate that world.