The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik apprenticed himself to a dancer, an artist, a boxer and even a driving instructor in a wildly creative quest to discover how we obtain mastery.

Adam Gopnik is one of our most beloved writers, a brilliantly perceptive critic of art, food, France, and more. Recently he became obsessed by a fundamental matter: how do the subjects of his writing learn their outlandish skills?

To find out the answer to the mystery of mastery, he apprenticed himself to a dazzling array of talented people from many walks of life, trying his late middle-aged hand at things he assumed were beyond him. He discovered that mastering a skill is a process of methodically breaking down and building up, piece by piece – and that true mastery, in any field, requires mastering other people’s minds.

For anyone who has ever wanted to better themselves, this is an unmissable chance to learn how to learn from a true master of his craft – and a jack of many other trades besides.

Praise for the works of Adam Gopnik:

‘A real treat . . . Heartening proof of a life lived fully, and fully savoured’ – Times Literary Supplement’

‘Gopnik has written with entrancing penetration on just about everything’ – Spectator

‘Witty and wise. Gopnik is a sleek stylist, and a high-minded, big-hearted moralist into the bargain’ – Observer

‘Adam Gopnik is a dazzling talent – hilarious, winning and deft’ – Malcolm Gladwell