title: Remembering our Childhood: How Memory Betrays Us
author:  Karl Sabbagh 
description: "Review from previous edition: Lively investigation." --Andrew Robinson, Lancet<br /><br />"Never less than fascinating." --William Leith, Financial Times<br /><br />"A terrific book. Sabbagh's journey into childhood memory shows keen insight into how it works and what it means. He offers a masterfully original and beautifully written perspective on one of the most fundamental aspects of the human mind." --Elizabeth F. Loftus, Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine
zlib_text: What the dead behold, they may become.  
  — _Revelations of Gla’aki, volume 9, On the Uses of the Dead_ (Matterhorn
  Press, 1863?)
  
  
  
  
  
  Some memories feel like a hook in the guts, but at least that means they’re
  entirely mine. That’s why I cling to every one that makes me wince—memories of
  loss, of humiliation, of doing things I should never have done, of failing to
  act as I should. They help to persuade me I’m still just myself and nobody
  else. Sometimes they succeed.
  
  
  
  
  
  When I look back I see my life is littered with mistakes. I could easily feel
  it’s composed of them. I often think the worst one was agreeing with my father
  that I was a thief. I only wanted to give him some peace, though I’d never
  stolen even the tiniest item. The mistake seems trivial compared with so much
  that has happened since, but then—like far too many people—I’ve seldom seen
  the larger context at the time. There’s no use thinking I was just a child
  when I first heard hints of how the world would change. I migh