Talking with memory athlete Joshua Foer

When science journalist Joshua Foer attended the U.S. Memory Championship in 2005, one of the "memory athletes" claimed that, with practice, an average person could perform the same mental tricks -- like memorizing pages of unpublished poetry or thousands of digits in an hour. In "Moonwalking With Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything" (Penguin Press, $26.95), Foer takes on this challenge and strives to return to the championship as a contestant. Of course, as baby brother to New Republic editor Franklin and novelist Jonathan Safran, he's anything but average, and, through a combination of engaging memoir and immersion reporting, he chronicles his year of brain-training. In a recent telephone call, Foer discussed the lost art of memory, how to make an image stick and the benefits of old-fashioned hard work. Oh, and that championship? He won it.

You broke the U.S. record in speed cards by memorizing the order of a deck of cards in 1 minute, 40 seconds. Can anybody do this?

Yes! It just takes time and practice and using the right techniques. At my peak, I only spent 15 minutes a day. Of course, I had an advantage -- my coach, Ed Cooke, is European, and they have much more sophisticated techniques. The Americans are catching up, but at the time, it was like bringing a gun to a knife fight.

The memory contests feel one part chess club and one part Coney Island hot-dog-eating contest. What kind of people go?

It's a pretty diverse group. There's a range of ages, from teens to people in their 60s. There is always a group of students from a high school in the South Bronx -- a teacher there uses memory techniques to teach his U.S. history curriculum, and they always do well.

How did you train?

The techniques are based on an old idea from Ancient Greece. You build a structure in the brain, made-up or real, and then walk around these buildings putting images in the rooms. Basically, you use spatial memory to remember things our brains are not so good at remembering, like phone numbers and dates.

What does Einstein have to do with moonwalking?

If you conjure up an image of Einstein moonwalking -- either Neil Armstrong-style or Michael Jackson -- this is unlike anything you've seen before. Bizarre images are stickier in your memory. These tricks help make the banal -- like numbers -- bizarre.

You call this type of memory artificial. What's the difference between natural and artificial memory?

Natural memory is the hardware we're born with. Artificial memory is the software. Memory tricks will help you remember, but they won't improve the hardware.

You've stopped your daily practice since the championship. How's your memory?

I'm embarrassed to say I'm badly out of shape. I was once a well-oiled mnemonic machine. Now, I'm a complete memory schlub. But at least I know that with focused practice, it truly is possible to improve.