Peter Shankman - Faster Than Normal

A BOUT A YEAR ago, a man came to my office in New York City (117 West Seventy-second Street, third floor, if you are ever in the neighborhood and would like to drop in) to interview me for his soon-to-be-launched podcast called Faster Than Normal. I was interested because, with no small degree of trepidation, I had recently launched a podcast of my own, called Distraction. But unlike my visitor, I was and am a rank novice, a thoroughgoing nitwit at marketing and self-promotion, so I was eager to learn from this man who was about to interview me. His name wasisPeter Shankman.

I dont believe I had ever met him before. You may think it strange that I say I dont believe I had met him before, that I cannot say for sure whether I had met Mr. Shankman prior to that day in my office, but it is, Im afraid, altogether typical of the workings of my mind that I do not always have at my fingertips an awareness of where Ive been, what Ive done, or the people I have met. My reality changes its contours on a daily, indeed hourly basis.

So I felt somewhat on edge as I rose to greet Mr. Shankman, whom I now call Peter. Should I embrace him, as if he were an old friend, or should I extend my hand as if this were the first time wed met, or should I do something somewhere in between? I was pretty sure the first option was out; even I remember dear old friends. But what if I had met him once or twice before? It would be awkward to say, Good to meet you, only to put him in the dicey spot of having to think of some way to tactfully let me know wed met before.

To my great relief Peter simply whisked into the room, started talking, and began to set up his equipment. I need not have worried a whit. He instantly understood, or intuited, my situation and carried the ball without a pause or a twitch.

So it was that two men, one thirty-three years older than the other (yes, I am the older), both of whose brains are, to use Peters adept term, faster than normal, came to meet (for the ?th time) and begin, or resume, a lovely relationship.

What happened between Peters entering the room and our embrace upon his leaving it (yes, in that hour or so we reached embracing terms) could serve as a documentary of the workings of faster than normal brains.

Time raced by. Put differently, time disappeared. We completed each others thoughts, added on to each others sentences, interrupted without giving or taking offense, took in each others words and ideas (take in is more what people like us do, as opposed to listen to), pumped energy back and forth, while Peter conducted what could be called an interview but was more like a conversational jitterbug.

I am still just getting to know Peter, but at the same time, I feel as if Ive known him forever. There is a similarity among people with the kind of brain we share. There are major differences, to be sure, as each one of us is unique. But in a fundamental way, I knew Peter after about eleven seconds, and, I daresay, he knew me.

Peter and I share a desire to celebrate this kind of brain, while at the same time offering pointers on how to get the best out of it, and dodge the worst. Ive had sixty-seven years of living with this kind of brainmy ownand thirty-five years seeing patients who have it. Ive also written six different books about it. I came to my place via a classical education and medical school; Peter came to it by the extraordinary power of his imagination, intuition, and drive.

Plus one other ingredient I know of. The last time I saw Peter, we were on a panel together. In the audience sat Peters mother. She told me she comes to as many of his events as she can. I doubt its a stretch to say she played a pivotal role in Peters being the extraordinary man he is today.

And just who is he? You will learn that, by inference, as you read this book. No matter the topic, every book reveals its author in ways far more subtle and true than any bio ever could.

But let me add just a bit from what Ive seen. Peter is a good man, a kind man, a devoted father, and a man who wants to leave the world a better place than when he found it, which he has already done (improve the world, that is, not leave it!). It is good to know, when reading a book, especially a book that offers you advice on how to live your life, that the author is a good person.