Ian Sansom

How to be top: two new books promise the self-improvement Holy Grail

But the big ideas seem mainly to consist in acquiring new skills – like boxing and baking – and flexing the imagination muscle

Adam Gopnik, author of The Real Work. [Getty Images]
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  • The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery

    Adam Gopnik

    Riverrun, pp. 288, £20

  • The Imagination Muscle: Where Good Ideas Come From (And How to Have More of Them)

    Albert Read

    Constable, pp. 304, £20

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