I read the book. It's a great read for the story itself (guy learns how to win memory contests) ... but the memory techniques, in my opinion, do not really work for everyday situations. I did learn how to memorize the sequence of a random deck of cards though, which is pretty cool.
Took me a few weeks ... although I carried a deck around with me and pulled it out to practice periodically throughout the day. I found that the key is to not be afraid to be really creative with imaging the visual representations of the cards. The more 'out there', the better.
