How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
About this product
With half a million copies in print, How to Read a Book is the best and most successful guide to reading comprehension for the general reader, completely rewritten and updated with new material.
A CNN Book of the Week: “Explains not just why we should read books, but how we should read them. It's masterfully done.” –Farheed Zakaria
Originally published in 1940, this book is a rare phenomenon, a living classic that introduces and elucidates the various levels of reading and how to achieve them—from elementary reading, through systematic skimming and inspectional reading, to speed reading. Readers will learn when and how to “judge a book by its cover,” and also how to X-ray it, read critically, and extract the author’s message from the text.
Also included is instruction in the different techniques that work best for reading particular genres, such as practical books, imaginative literature, plays, poetry, history, science and mathematics, philosophy and social science works.
Finally, the authors offer a recommended reading list and supply reading tests you can use measure your own progress in reading skills, comprehension, and speed. Read more
Editor's Take
Amazon reviewers say this book is highly helpful for improving reading skills and understanding how to approach difficult texts. Goodreads and The StoryGraph show a large volume of reader feedback, with many readers praising the book as insightful and timeless, while some Reddit users criticize it as overly long, repetitive, or less useful for fiction. Review blogs are split too: some call it a classic guide to analytical reading, while others find it boring or dated.
Common positives:
- Clear framework for analytical reading and extracting meaning from nonfiction
- Valuable for students, self-learners, and readers of dense books
- Often described as a classic or must-read guide
Common criticisms:
- Too long for the amount of practical advice it gives
- Feels repetitive or old-fashioned to some readers
- Less helpful for fiction, poetry, or narrative books
On YouTube, search results showed at least two real review videos specifically about this book: one titled Book Review: How to Read a Book and another titled Book Review - How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler.
Price History
Specifications
| Illustrated | No |
Product Details
| Publisher | Touchstone |
| Publication date | August 15, 1972 |
| Edition | Revised |
| Language | English |
| Print length | 426 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0671212095 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0671212094 |
| Item Weight | 12.8 ounces |
| Dimensions | 5.31 x 1 x 8.25 inches |
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,881 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #2 in General Books & Reading #2 in Reading Skills Reference (Books) #3 in Study & Teaching Reference (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (8,012) |
