the Dedication

My grandfather was a soft-spoken man with sympathetic blue eyes, and a passion for books and ideas. He always dressed in a suit, and had a courtly way of exclaiming over whatever was exclaimable in people, especially in children. In the Brooklyn neighborhood where he served as a rabbi, the sidewalks were filled with men in black hats, women in skirts that hid their knees, and improbably well-behaved kids. On his way to synagogue, my grandfather would greet the passersby, gently praising this child's brains, that one's height, the other's command of current events. Kids adored him, businessmen respected him, lost souls clung to him.

But what he loved to do best was read. In his small apartment, where as a widower he'd lived alone for decades, all_Solitude: A Return to the Self_ (New York: Free Press, 2005), 103.

45. **considerably more cheerful Theodor Geisel** : Judith Morgan and Neil Morgan, _Dr. Seuss and Mr. Geisel: A Biography_ (New York: DaCapo, 1996).

46. **legendary advertising man Alex Osborn** : Alex Osborn, _Your Creative Power_ (W. Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 1948).

47. **group brainstorming doesn't actually work** : Marvin D. Dunnette et al., "The Effect of Group Participation on Brainstorming Effectiveness for Two Industrial Samples," _Journal of Applied Psychology_ 47, no. 1 (1963): 30–37.

48. **some forty years of research** : See, for example, Paul A. Mongeau and Mary Claire Morr, "Reconsidering Brainstorming," _Group Facilitation_ 1, no. 1 (1999): 14. See also Karan Girotra et al., "Idea Generation and the Quality of the Best Idea," _Management Science_ 56, no.