Memory and Self: Moonwalking With Einstein

Without memory who are we?   Ubiquitous cameras that seem to be recording our every experience along with the low cost of external memory storage combine to promise and threaten our memories.  What does that really mean to our fundamental concept of self?

Joshua Foer provides facts and ideas with which to approach these questions in his fascinating and informative book, Moonwalking With Einstein.  It is a nonfiction book written like a novel.  While reading about true-life characters wacky enough to be creations of Comedy Central writers, you inadvertently learn a lot about memory.

The book traces the history of ideas about memory as well as practical tips and techniques for improving yours (for example: the title has to do with a memory technique).  Several relevant studies about how the brain handles memory are reported.  All these features are folded into the narrative of how the author spent a year preparing for the U.S. Memory Championship.   This is a creative work of non-fiction at its best.