Learning to Write

Here are a few paragraphs from a chapter I wrote today. The working title is, “How Jonah Lehrer Saved My Marriage (And Possibly My Life)”

Technically, he told all of us about his research at Pixar. Every egghead in the room heard him say, “Daily crit sessions and debate are the prime mover behind Pixar’s record for excellence.” As far as I was concerned, though, all of the other professors had disappeared. Jonah was talking to me. It was as if we were sitting at Starbucks and he reached across the little round table to straighten my glasses. They had been set on my face at an unhealthy angle for so long, I had grown accustomed to the blur. “There you go,” he said with a smile. “Now you’ll see everything more clearly.”

“Thank you, Jonah,” I said in response, stifling tears so as not to look like a jerk. The art history professor to my right glanced at me sideways and scooted away, as far as his padded seat would allow. I didn’t care. Jonah had fixed me. The world looked different—clearer, brighter, and infinitely more hopeful. I stayed around after the meeting to thank him for real.