Preface, Introduction and Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis

Preface: In the preface, Bronson says that at the Magic Castle, a magic club in Hollywood, Cary Grant used to work as a doorman, posing as a Cary Grant look-alike. Bronson says that Grant threw the patrons off—hardly anyone recognized him, and from this he concludes that the Real Thing often escapes people's notice, because of what he calls the 24-7 news cycle, which looks for entertainment value in everything, but overlooks all real values. Nevertheless, Bronson says that the scientific understanding of childhood has changed, and that like the patrons walking right past Cary Grant, we have not seen the new consensus.

Introduction: Thinking about a paint-by-numbers painting his wife has saved from her mother's estate, Bronson says that parenting is like painting by the numbers: you do what the child development...