Is it true, as the novelist Cees Noteboom once wrote, that "Memory is like a dog that lies down where it pleases"? Where do the long, lazy summers of our childhood go? Why is it that as we grow older time seems to condense, speed up, elude us while in old age significant events from our distant past can seem as vivid and real as what happened yesterday? In this enchanting and thoughtful book, Douwe Draaisma, author of the internationally acclaimed Metaphors of Memory, explores the nature of autobiographical memory. Applying a unique blend of scholarship, poetic sensibility and keen observation he tackles such extraordinary phenomena as deja-vu, near-death experiences, the memory feats of idiot-savants and the effects of extreme trauma on memory recall. Raising almost as many questions as it answers, this fascinating book will not fail to touch you at the same time as it educates and entertains.

Originally published in Dutch by Historische Uitgervrij in 2001; this translation makes the work accessible to English speakers. Draaisma (history of psychology, U. of Groningen, The Netherlands) writes for the professional psychologist as well as for the general reader with a sophisticated attention span; that is, he gives no simple answers but rather reviews the myriad avenues of inquiry related to memory, incorporating examples, anecdotes, and research. He explores the characteristics of memory under all sorts of physical and emotional circumstances, including, but not exclusively, aging, which merits its own chapter on life speeding up. Among the topics are first memories, smell, remembering forwards and backwards, the savant syndrome, trauma, déja vu, and forgetting. Indexing is by name, but not by subject.
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"It is a joy to read...providing a fresh and cogent look at how and why we remember." Publishing News

"Draaisma...is a terrific writer, whose erudition and passion for the topic are apparent in every page." Nature Magazine"This is a provacative and well-written book." Desert Morning News"Douwe Draaisma's Why Life Speeds Up As You Get Older won prizes when it appeared in Dutch, and is a treasure. The result is informative, amusing and moving. Long after you close it, it leaves a good memory." New Scientist, Jon Turney"...expertly and fluidly integrates applied autobiographical memory topics with interesting historical and contemporary vignettes of the psychology research literature. Excellent supplementary reading for courses in cognitive psychology and the history of psychology, highly recommended." CHOICE

Where do the long, lazy summers of our childhood go? Why is it that as we grow older time seems to condense, speed up, elude us while in old age significant events from our past can seem as vivid as what happened yesterday? In this enchanting book (shortlisted for the 2005 Aventis Prize), Douwe Draaisma, author of the internationally acclaimed Metaphors of Memory, explores the nature of autobiographical memory and extraordinary phenomena such as déjà-vu, the memory feats of idiot-savants or the effects of extreme trauma on memory recall.

Is it true, as the novelist Cees Nooteboom once wrote, that memory is like a dog that lies down where it pleases? Where do the long, lazy summers of our childhood go? Why, as we grow older, does time seem to condense, speed up and elude us, while in old age, significant events from our distant past can seem as vivid and real as what happened yesterday? Douwe Draaisma, author of the internationally acclaimed Metaphors of Memory (Cambridge, 2001), explores the nature of autobiographical memory. Applying a unique blend of scholarship, poetic sensibility, and keen observation, he tackles such extraordinary phenomena as deja-vu, near-death experiences, the memory feats of idiot savants, and the effects of extreme trauma on memory recall. Raising almost as many questions as it answers, this fascinating book will not fail to affect you at the same time as it educates and entertains. Douwe Draaisma is Professor of the History of Psychology in the Department of Theory and History of Psychology at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. He has published books on time and memory and his articles have appeared in professional journals as diverse as Annals of Science, Psychological Medicine, and Nature. The original Dutch version of Why Life Speeds Up As You Get Older has won several scientific and literary awards.

This translation of the Dutch bestseller explores the nature of autobiographical memory. The fascinating book discusses deja-vu, near-death experiences, the memory feats of idiot savants, and the effects of extreme trauma on memory recall.

Douwe Draaisma is Professor of History of Psychology at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. He is the author of Metaphors of Memory (Cambridge, 2001).

1. 'Memory is like a dog that lies down where it pleases'; 2. Flashes in the dark: first memories; 3. Smell and memory; 4. Yesterday's record; 5. The inner flashbulb; 6. 'Why do we remember forwards and not backwards?' 7. The absolute memories of Funes and Sherashevsky; 8. The advantages of a defect: the savant syndrome; 9. The memory of a grandmaster: a conversation with Ton Sijbrands; 10. Trauma and memory: the Demjanjuk case; 11. Richard and Anna Wagner: forty-five years of married life; 12. 'In oval mirrors we drive around': on experiencing a sense of déjàvu; 13. Reminiscences; 14. Why life speeds up as you get older; 15. Forgetting; 16. 'I saw my life flash before me'; 17. From memory - Portrait with Still Life.