The Memory Palace

“One doesn’t often find the words imagination and history in the same sentence. Nate DiMeo has forever woven them together. He asks each of us to engage in an act of empathetic imagination, to see in the stories of others—people who lived before us—something inherently human, something that transcends time and provides us with a feeling of understanding and, quite often, joy. The Memory Place wants you to linger, to stay awhile, and find a deeper meaning both in the stories of the past and perhaps in your own life as well.”—Ken Burns, filmmaker

“Nate DiMeo delves through history with a poet’s eye, recovering the strange and revealing and even wonderful detritus of our past and reflecting on it in profound ways. The Memory Palace is a beautiful, moving, and often funny book made out of our collective history and DiMeo’s unique sensibility.”—Phil Klay, National Book Award–winning author of Missionaries

“Nate DiMeo zooms in on stories of mishap, invention and adventure in these pithy yet profound historical lessons. . . . These brief historical lessons read like exquisite short stories, each of them revealing something profound about history and humanity.”—The Guardian

“History lovers will surely enjoy these bite-sized narratives of historical moments both big and small.”—Library Journal

“Nate DiMeo has an uncanny ability to describe these small, beautiful moments in history that will delight your curiosity, elucidate our shared humanity, and maybe even break your heart. The short, perfect stories of The Memory Palace will stick with you.”—Roman Mars, author of The 99% Invisible City

“I love Nate DiMeo’s singular gift for uncovering small stories about very big things. The Memory Palace is like an impeccably curated museum of humanity, shown in all its weird, sad, gleeful, and idiosyncratic glory.”—Jon Mooallem, author of Serious Face

“The only problem with The Memory Palace—an incredible book, executed beautifully—is that for months after you read it you will repeat the stories to everyone you meet, everywhere you go. Nate DiMeo has magically curated American history and unearthed dozens of incredible stories, every one a pure delight, and written about them the way only he can—with humor, passion, and poetry. This is a book everyone in your life will love and cherish.”—Michael Schur, author of How to Be Perfect and creator of The Good Place

“A caravan of curiosities . . . In mining ‘the space between the story of our lives and those lives as we live them,’ DiMeo plays magician, conjuring the enchantments that reside in the subtle and unseen, often moment to moment. . . . DiMeo’s illumination of small wonders edifies and entertains.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Readers will feel a shiver of recognition and understanding—making a second or third visit to DiMeo’s memory palace both irresistible and gratifying.”—BookPage

“A charming array of underknown stories about people, animals, and objects, and their effect on the zeitgeist . . . The Memory Palace is a wonderful collection of historical vignettes portraying fateful moments in time with often-enduring consequences. DiMeo’s flair for the short history is evident, and his book is ceaselessly entertaining.”—Booklist