Book of the Week: Peak

I first hard of Anders Ericsson in one of the funnest literary nonfiction books I’ve ever read, Moonwalking with Einstein, when he coached a young journalist to become memory champion of the United States. Or perhaps it was earlier, in Gladwell’s Outliers, where his work gave birth to the ten thousand hours myth. His research has been fodder to many a fascinating book, but too often it has been mangled and misunderstood.

In this book, Anders teams up with a science writer to create a fascinating, accurate and ultimately inspiring book, Peak. I urge you to buy it, and discover the lie of talent and the promise of a type of practice that will allow anyone to become an expert. That’s right: anyone.

from the book description
“Anders Ericsson has made a career studying chess champions, violin virtuosos, star athletes, and memory mavens. Peak distills three decades of myth-shattering research into a powerful learning strategy that is fundamentally different from the way people traditionally think about acquiring new abilities. Whether you want to stand out at work, improve your athletic or musical performance, or help your child achieve academic goals, Ericsson’s revolutionary methods will show you how to improve at almost any skill that matters to you.”