Everyone's a Genius, Everyone's a Lemming

And other epiphanies from the book everyone's reading.

A few weeks ago, I went to dinner with friends who were visiting from out of town. At the end of the night, we piled into a car, buzzy and chatty, infused with the unmistakable glow of time spent in excellent company.

“What is that book?” asked one friend, as we drove past a bookstore.

“What book?”

“That book!” she pointed. “The circle book!”

“Oh yeah, that book. I’ve seen it everywhere,” another friend chimed in.

I craned my neck to see the display in question, but it was no longer in sight.

Every time I see it, I think it should be called The Tao of Boob. I know that’s a record. But we see what we see.

A quick internet search revealed it to be the #1 New York Times bestseller The Creative Act: A Way of Being, by legendary music producer Rick Rubin.

Indeed, I had heard of it — over the course of that week, no less than four people had mentioned it (including next week’s guest for Five Big Questions), not counting the numerous write-ups I’d seen around the internet.

Rubin himself is the stuf…