Inspired by his young daughter's insatiable need to know how to do almost everything and hindered by his rut of mid-career competence, Tom Vanderbilt begins a year of learning purely for the sake of learning. He tackles five primary skills, choosing them for their difficulty to master and their distinct lack of career marketability — chess, singing, surfing, drawing, and juggling. Weaving comprehensive research and surprising insight gained from his year of learning dangerously, Vanderbilt shows how anyone can begin again — and, more important, why they should take those first awkward steps. Ultimately, he shares how a refreshed sense of curiosity opened him up to profound happiness and a deeper connection to the people around him and how small acts of reinvention, at any age, can make life seem magical.