I’ve always struggled with dense books, especially ones packed with personalities. My brain prefers a clear, focused thread, like how the British cracked Enigma or the science behind raising Rainbow trout.

It’s probably undiagnosed ADHD, the inattentive kind. I get easily distracted. Staying engaged with long, detailed texts, especially those crammed with characters, feels impossible.

So when I picked up How to Be Avant-Garde by Morgan Falconer, I braced for a slog. It’s full of artists from the Futurist and Surrealist movements… names, dates, ideas swirling in a blur. But this time, I have a secret weapon.

ChatGPT.

Before reading, I ask it for summaries. While reading, I ask questions. The result? No more slog. Just clarity. My brain, as it turns out, loves spoilers. Knowing what’s coming makes everything click.

At the same time, I’m reading Fluxus: The History of an Attitude by Owen F. Smith. My multipotentialite brain thrives on exploring multiple rabbit holes at once. And to my delight, there’s a common thread: Marcel Duchamp. He’s a bridge between two worlds, an artist who disrupted the very idea of what art could be in the early 1900s and whose ideas rippled into the Fluxus movement decades later.

For someone who struggles to track sprawling narratives, finding Duchamp in both books feels like hitting a familiar landmark in the chaos. A guide through the maze.

Turns out, I just needed the right way in. And for me, that means priming my brain first by engaging my chatbot sidekick.