Book SummaryThe Memory Book, by Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The Memory Book

What do a magician and a former NBA basketball player have in common? In Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas’s case, it was an affinity for memorization techniques. Together, they wrote The Memory Book, a collection of strategies intended to teach anyone how to improve their memorization skills and recall nearly any kind of information.

Harry Lorayne was a magician, author, and memory expert who began studying memorization techniques after struggling with dyslexia in school. He was known for demonstrating his memory capabilities through his magic tricks, which he showcased...

The Memory Book Summary Basic Memory Principles

Lorayne and Lucas discuss five basic memory principles that guide all of their memorization techniques:

Principle #1: To Remember Something, Create a Foundational Memory of It

The authors argue that when you say you’ve “forgotten something,” it’s typically because you never actually absorbed the information in the first place. To remember something later on, you need to first create a foundational memory of it.

(Shortform note: Some research suggests that we can improve our ability to absorb information and create memories by practicing meditation. For instance, one 2013 study found that two weeks of training in mindfulness meditation improved participants’ ability to recall information by minimizing distracting thoughts. These findings suggest that having fewer mental distractions allows us to better process and learn information we receive from our senses. Additionally, it may improve our ability to store information in short- and long-term memory. Learning, processing, and storing are all necessary skills to create the foundational memories Lorayne and Lucas discuss.)

Principle #2:...

The Memory Book Summary Fundamental Memorization Techniques

In this section, we’ll explore three of Lorayne and Lucas’s fundamental memorization techniques in detail: how to remember sequences of items using image-based association, how to create stand-in words to make abstract items easier to remember, and how to apply those techniques to remember full ideas in sequence. All of these techniques depend on one or more of the basic memory principles we discussed in the previous section.

(Shortform note: Lorayne and Lucas’s instructions for memorization techniques follow a mostly linear progression: Each technique builds upon the last. In our guide, we’ve broken each technique into specific steps to add additional clarity and logical flow.)

Technique #1: Remembering Sequences Through Image-Based Association

The first fundamental memorization technique involves remembering sequences of information using image-based association. According to Lorayne and Lucas, we always use association to commit things to memory, often subconsciously. In other words, we remember things in relation to each other, meaning we can recall anything if we link it to another piece of information we already know.

(Shortform note: [The associative nature...

Shortform Exercise: Apply Memorization Techniques to a Situation In Your Life

You can apply Lorayne and Lucas’s techniques to help you remember many different kinds of information. Consider how to use them to memorize something in your life.

Describe something you need to memorize soon. When is your deadline for memorizing this information? (For example, maybe you need to remember a list of names by your meeting next week, or you have to memorize a script for a conference presentation next month.)