Into the Magic Shop is a memoir by neurosurgeon James R. Doty. At twelve, growing up in poverty with a troubled family, he wandered into a magic shop and met a woman named Ruth. She taught him exercises to calm his mind, open his heart, and imagine a different future. James followed the tricks that Ruth taught him, and it worked. James had a great adventure later in life despite having a sad childhood.
James gave a talk about his book and experience at Google.
I’m amazed by Jim’s journey—his personal growth, his career, and the turns his life has taken—but I’m just as struck by the way he expresses his ideas. It reminds me of Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)”: “Girls you know you better watch out / Some guys, some guys are only about / That thing, that thing, that thing.” The phrasing works because everyone understands the reference, while leaving it unnamed avoids the discomfort of saying it outright. Jim seems to do something similar, spending considerable effort describing what sounds to me like familiar territory: God, religion, and prayer. His ideas and practices remind me of the Sermon on the Mount: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). The connection seems straightforward to me, which makes his apparent reluctance to use Christian language all the more surprising. He writes about his interactions with the Dalai Lama and seems comfortable embracing an Eastern religious tradition, yet less comfortable acknowledging similar ideas in the religion closer to home. To me, that contrast reflects something astounding about California’s rebellion against its own religious heritage.