How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading

I don't know who this book's intended audience is. I'm a serious reader and obtained it due to the recommendation of Clifton Fadiman in the Lifetime Reading Plan. Unlike many of his other recommendations, I found this book long-winded and tiresome. I'd rate it 2 pounds in a 5 pound bag. What I enjoyed were the vignettes Adler presents to make his points. His points seem very obvious; however, the vignettes are well-selected and well-written. They make me want to read the books he references!

glued binding breaks. Poor quality binding which will not last. Shame such a great book is not in a sewn binding.

This classic book has helped me share with students for the past 15 years all the nuances, tips, and tricks to learning how to read and learn information from any source. The addition of Syntopic Reading was a huge paradigm shift in how to leverage information in the most efficient manner! I highly recommend this book if you want to really understand how to take newspaper articles, magazine articles, white papers, books of all kinds and any other reading you have to do, apart to glean the most information you need from them all!

I just received this book after ordering it at the suggestion of Benjamin McEvoy of the hardcore Literature Book Club. It's even more comprehensive than expected and I cannot wait to dive into it often as I delve deeper into various types of literature. I can't believe it's not to be found on the shelves of every bookstore.

The best "how to" book I have read in my entire life: this book is a gateway to profound knowledge and expertise in your subject of choice, whatever that subject might be; its authors were skilled in the subject, as well as in the techniques to teach it and so the contents are a genuine "how to"-- unlike many, many, other books out there. The contents of this book, mastered at a young age, would help guide toward both a very productive individual (morals and moral support of course, would come first), and an individual confident in the powers of his/her mind. This confidence, I suspect, would spread from the practical,cultural and economical value of the individual toward his/her value as a human--again, morals and moral support would come first.

If you read nonfiction, this is a great book. For fiction readers there are less than 10 relevant pages, in my opinion. I like nonfiction, read a lot, and found this book extremely useful. I was already using about half of the techniques the authors suggest, but incorporating the other half is greatly enhancing my book reading experience. This is especially true regarding choosing what books to read - there is a great book list in the appendix. There are a few things I found to be very profound about humans, learning, teaching, the history of knowledge, etc. Finally, this book is a great read if you are a writer and wish to write a good book.

Well thought out advice on how to read for understanding. Everyone should get this. It may be hard to implement fully, but its good to know how to read thoroughly if one wishes regardless.

The title at first comes off as funny. How can you learn to read from a book about reading if you can't already read? (I teach elementary school, and my students found the title hilarious.) Of course, the author suspects you understand he means something deeper than that.

Some are tempted to say this is another book full of common sense. I think we've all learned the hard lesson recently that common sense isn't all that common. Combine that with a failing educational system, and one cannot be assured that the general public can actually read well.

At the very least, the content of this book can serve as a refresher for what it means to read well, not necessarily just to be what the author instead calls "widely read." It is meticulous in detail, and honestly I had to slow down in some sections of the book to truly digest what was being said. That's fantastic, because that is exactly what this book teaches.

Crucial information and suggestions are not only expounded in the book, but are also presented systematically and straightforward. There are lists (a joy to read if you're like me) that neatly organize the structure of the book and serve as good examples of what they teach.

You shouldn't expect less from the man who put together the Great Books of the Western World series. If you want to give serious and productive (yet enjoyable) reading a try, first give this book a try. I guarantee you won't regret it.

Recomendaré a todos leer este libro!!!

This book teaches how to read to your deepen understanding (as opposed to gaining information) and stretch your mind.