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Praised as the "bestest travel guide ever" (Mary Roach) and "a joy
to read and reread" (Neil Gaiman), Atlas Obscura is a phenomenon of
travel books: "Odds are you won't get past three pages without
being amazed" (San Francisco Chronicle). It rocketed to the top of
bestseller lists and has over 626,000 copies in print since its
publication in late 2016. Now the best gets better and the weirdest
gets weirder with this completely revised and updated second
edition that includes 120 new entries that offer readers even more
of the most unusual, curious, bizarre, and mysterious places on
earth. In addition, the second edition includes a full-colour
gatefold Atlas Obscura road trip map, with a dream itinerary.
Created by the founders of AtlasObscura.com, the vibrant travel
community that's grown substantially since the original edition -
not only online but in stores, too, with the recent publication of
the #1 New York Times bestseller The Atlas Obscura Explorer's Guide
for the World's Most Adventurous Kid - Atlas Obscura expands the
reader's sense of what's possible. Oversized, beautifully packaged,
compellingly written, scrupulously researched, and filled with
photographs, illustrations, maps, charts, and more, it is the book
that inspires equal parts wonder and wanderlust. It informs us on
every page of something we never knew - and paints a rich panorama
of what a marvellously strange world we live in. For the travel
lover and curious reader, it's a gift book that's literally
impossible to put down.
Boxed set includes bestselling travel adventure titles Atlas
Obscura and Gastro Obscura.
'Be prepared to be amazed' Guardian Can anyone get a perfect
memory? Joshua Foer used to be like most of us, forgetting phone
numbers and mislaying keys. Then he learnt the art of memory
training, and a year later found himself in the finals of the US
Memory Championship. He also discovered a truth we often forget:
that, even in an age of technology, memory is the key to everything
we are. In Moonwalking with Einstein he takes us on an astonishing
journey through the mind, from ancient 'memory palace' techniques
to neuroscience, from the man who can recall nine thousand books to
another who constantly forgets who he is. In doing so, Foer shows
how we can all improve our memories. 'Captivating ... engaging ...
smart and funny' The New York Times 'Delightful ... uplifting ...
it shows that our minds can do extraordinary things' Wall Street
Journal 'Great fun ... a book worth remembering' Independent 'A
lovely exploration of the ways that we preserve our lives and our
world in the golden amber of human memory' New Scientist
Foer's unlikely journey from chronically forgetful science
journalist to U.S. Memory Champion frames a revelatory exploration
of the vast, hidden impact of memory on every aspect of our lives.
On average, people squander forty days annually compensating for
things they've forgotten. Joshua Foer used to be one of those
people. But after a year of memory training, he found himself in
the finals of the U.S. Memory Championship. Even more important,
Foer found a vital truth we too often forget: In every way that
matters, we are the sum of our memories.
"Moonwalking with Einstein" draws on cutting-edge research, a
surprising cultural history of memory, and venerable tricks of the
mentalist's trade to transform our understanding of human
remembering. Under the tutelage of top "mental athletes," he learns
ancient techniques once employed by Cicero to memorize his speeches
and by Medieval scholars to memorize entire books. Using methods
that have been largely forgotten, Foer discovers that we can all
dramatically improve our memories.
Immersing himself obsessively in a quirky subculture of
competitive memorizers, Foer learns to apply techniques that call
on imagination as much as determination-showing that memorization
can be anything but rote. From the PAO system, which converts
numbers into lurid images, to the memory palace, in which memories
are stored in the rooms of imaginary structures, Foer's experience
shows that the World Memory Championships are less a test of memory
than of perseverance and creativity.
Foer takes his inquiry well beyond the arena of mental
athletes-across the country and deep into his own mind. In San
Diego, he meets an affable old man with one of the most severe case
of amnesia on record, where he learns that memory is at once more
elusive and more reliable than we might think. In Salt Lake City,
he swaps secrets with a savant who claims to have memorized more
than nine thousand books. At a high school in the South Bronx, he
finds a history teacher using twenty- five-hundred-year-old memory
techniques to give his students an edge in the state Regents exam.
At a time when electronic devices have all but rendered our
individual memories obsolete, Foer's bid to resurrect the forgotten
art of remembering becomes an urgent quest. "Moonwalking with
Einstein" brings Joshua Foer to the apex of the U.S. Memory
Championship and readers to a profound appreciation of a gift we
all possess but that too often slips our minds.
An instant bestseller that is poised to become a classic,
"Moonwalking with Einstein" recounts Foer's yearlong quest to
improve his memory under the tutelage of top "mental athletes." He
draws on cutting-edge research, a surprising cultural history of
remembering, and venerable tricks of the mentalist's trade to
transform our understanding of human memory.
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