HOT HAND SUTRAS

An acclaimed writer reflects on neurology, intuition, and Zen in this collection of essays and articles.

Shainberg, the author of multiple novels and nonfiction works, became obsessed with understanding his own neurology (“e.g., the brain that was producing the book”) while writing Memories of Amnesia in the 1970s. In researching that 1988 novel about the implications of brain damage, he had seven months of hospital access to neurosurgeons, patients, and staff. His half-century desire to understand the contradictions of the human mind is displayed in this compilation of essays and articles, many of which were first printed in the ’70s in publications like The New York Times Magazine and Harper’s Magazine. The titular essay centers on the ubiquitous sports phenomenon of hot streaks, where an athlete is on a transcendent run of making three-point shots in basketball, hammering home runs in baseball, or hitting bullseyes in archery. Regardless of the euphoria experienced by fans and teammates who witness these moments of athletic grandeur, “Hot Hands” are not a statistical reality, no matter how “brutal, sacrilegious, and seemingly inarguable” the phenomenon may be. In making this point, Shainberg references peer-reviewed studies. The author similarly uses the New York City Marathon in his essay “Going Nowhere Fast” to examine intuition-defying examples of how the “psychodrama” of sports conflicts with scientific reality. Another major theme of the book is the powerful neurological revelations offered through Zen practice. Essays, such as “The Violence of Just Sitting,” dissect Shainberg’s experiences with the devotion of “sesshin” and long periods of meditative sitting. In part a commemoration of the author’s distinguished career as an essayist, the volume pays particular attention to the interconnectedness of Zen, neurology, and creativity, ruminating on the mental processes behind Shainberg’s own work as well as others (an entire essay, for instance, centers on Zelda Fitzgerald). The collection excels at distilling the complexities of modern neuroscience into real-world examples in sports, literature, and spirituality. This emphasis on practicality is balanced with the literary sophistication and the gripping storytelling of a skilled novelist.

An absorbing and poignant exploration of the human brain.