The 14th book I read in 2023 was ‘The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery’ by Adam Gopnik. Ignore the title, this book is what you expect from Gopnik: beautiful prose and insightful observations on daily life and our place in it explored via our vulnerabilities and those around us.

I’ve been a Gopnik reader for 25+ years. Reading him in a physical copy of The New Yorker on my way to work on public transit was one of life’s pure joys. Since then, I have mostly switched to digital media and The New Yorker doesn’t have the same appeal anymore. I have generally kept up with Gopnik’s work via his books. While none have gripped me quite like “Paris to the Moon”, I have generally found pleasure in his essays on intellectual life.

Mystery of Mastery promised a lot more than in delivered. It seemed as if Gopnik was finally going to breach the Gladwell territory. However, this book is your usual Gopnik: a series of frothy, artistic. self-exploratory essays. If you were looking for a key to the mystery, then this is the wrong place to look at. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. If we wanted someone to share unsolicited keys to the mystery of mastery we could simply scroll twitter for 5 minutes.

Other recent posts on books.