The Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work, at School, and at Play cover
The Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work, at School, and at Play
by Harry Lorayne, Jerry Lucas
Description: The Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work, at School, and at Play presents practical techniques for enhancing memory skills in various settings, including work, education, and everyday activities. It offers methods to retain information more effectively and improve mental recall
ISBN: 0345410025
Found in 4 comments on Hacker News
View on Amazon
We may earn a commission from purchases made through links on this page.
Not ready yet? Get weekly book picks.
TallboyOne · 2012-12-29 · Original thread
Absolutely hands down this: http://www.amazon.com/Memory-Book-Classic-Improving-School/d...

Within a day I was memorizing lists of 75 items forwards AND backwards. Completely random items as well.

It makes remembering names a joke, you will remember them for years.

I gave the book to my 15 year old brother and explained to him how much the book meant to me and that it was a very quick read (most of the good stuff is in the first 2 chapters anyway)

Keep in mind hes 15.. 24 hours later he comes back to me with a list of 100 items (to outdo me).. lists them forwards and backwards. That's my boy.

I distinctly remember going to a salon one time and they had tons and tons and tons of bottles of gel, shampoo, hair products lined up in a styled fashion along the middle of the wall going across the wall. by the time my haircut was done I turned around and listed off every shampoo bottle in order and the hair stylist was just like "WTF!!". She probably felt like i was a freak, but I felt really good.

Trust me, its great going to the grocery store and not needing a list, and coming up with all 35 items... makes you feel like a boss.

icey · 2012-12-28 · Original thread
There was a different memory book suggested in the MeFi thread, but I really got a lot out of "The Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work, at School, and at Play" http://www.amazon.com/The-Memory-Book-Classic-Improving/dp/0...
charlieflowers · 2012-12-08 · Original thread
These techniques seem to be getting a lot of attention lately, but they've been written about extensively for a long time now. You don't hear much of these older books, but they're well worth looking at if you're interested in this topic:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Memory-Book-Classic-Improving/dp/0...

http://www.amazon.com/Use-Your-Perfect-Memory-Techniques/dp/...

http://www.amazon.com/The-Memory-Book-Remember-Anything/dp/1...

There are many others as well.

jerfelix · 2012-01-30 · Original thread
I was the same way. Foreign language was extremely difficult. Then I realized that memorization itself is a process that can be learned, improved, and mastered.

Once I began studying and learning the process of effective memorization, then foreign language became fun. It was a way to prove to myself that memorization techniques worked.

Granted, learning a language is more than just memorization of vocabulary. But elimination of that huge hurdle makes the rest more interesting and tractable.

I was tipped off to this by the best seller "The Memory Book" (which I highly recommend), but now there are plenty of web resources that may be as effective.

Here are some relevant links: http://www.amazon.com/Memory-Book-Classic-Improving-School/d... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorization (and click on all the links on this page)