How to Read a Book

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by Mortimer Jerome Adler and Charles Van Doren

Simon and Schuster

Due/Published August 1972, 426 pages, paper

ISBN 0671212095

How to Read a Book, originally published in 1940, has become a rare phenomenon, a living classic. It is the best and most successful guide to reading comprehension for the general reader. And now it has been completely rewritten and updated.

You are told about the various levels of reading and how to achieve them -- from elementary reading, through systematic skimming, and inspection reading, to speed reading. You learn how to pigeonhole a book, x-ray it, extract the author's message, criticize. You are taught the different reading techniques for reading practical books, imaginative literature, plays, poetry, history, science and mathematics, philosophy, and social science.

Finally, the authors offer a recommended reading list and supply reading tests whereby you can measure your own progress in reading skills, comprehension, and speed.