Back to the heart of Jonah Lehrer’s “Imagine”

The latest hubbub in the literary world — or at least the world of literary nonfiction — is all about Jonah Lehrer and his book, Imagine: How Creativity Works. Lehrer was a well-known staff writer for the New Yorker, but resigned that post yesterday due to the revelation that he had included in the book Bob Dylan quotes that, unfortunately, weren't by Bob Dylan at all. These quotes, about Dylan's songwriting, were fabricated by Lehrer himself.

That's bad news for the author but not necessarily for the book, which has already sold some 200,000 copies. And being that the book is nonfiction, a James Frey / A Million Little Pieces-style backlash probably isn't in the cards. So while Lehrer is on to the next phase of his career, his book remains out there with much to (legitimately) tell us. So do check out "Tapping the Creative Mind" — Christian McEwen's feature review of Imagine from our September issue, which is just hitting newsstands this week. As McEwen, the author of World Enough & Time: On Creativity and Slowing Down, writes: "Jonah Lehrer is no Buddhist, but Imagine is packed with images and anecdotes that reflect the meditative experience. [...] At the very least, it reminds us just what a rich and turbulent brew creativity can be, that 'seething cauldron of ideas,' as the psychologist William James once called it, 'where everything is fizzing and bobbing about in a state of bewildering activity.'"

Preview "Tapping the Creative Mind" here.

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