Moonwalking With Einstein - review

Moonwalking With Einstein by Joshua Foer (Penguin, £9.99)

Surfing the internet one day, US writer Joshua Foer becomes aware that there is such a thing as a world memory champion. This fascinates him because, he says, he has an average memory.

He goes to see memory "athletes". He wonders what memory actually is. Remembering is one of the most basic things we do with our brains but it's selective - it's a sort of manual rather than an album full of snapshots. And it changes over time, which is spooky. Foer becomes a memory champion.

But then he drives somewhere, parks his car, and takes the train back home. Very thoughtful, very good.