| View Larger Image | An Incomplete Education: 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned but Probably Didn't | Hardcoverby Judy Jones (Author), William Wilson (Author)
| List Price: | $35.00 | | Price: | $23.10 | | You Save: | $11.90 (34%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Hardcover | | Publisher: | Ballantine Books | | Edition: | 3rd Edition | | Page Count: | 720 Pages | | Publication Date: | April 25, 2006 | | Sales Rank: | 666th |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
When it was originally published in 1987, An Incomplete Education became a surprise bestseller. Now this instant classic has been completely updated, outfitted with a whole new arsenal of indispensable knowledge on global affairs, popular culture, economic trends, scientific principles, and modern arts. Here’s your chance to brush up on all those subjects you slept through in school, reacquaint yourself with all the facts you once knew (then promptly forgot), catch up on major developments in the world today, and become the Renaissance man or woman you always knew you could be!How do you tell the Balkans from the Caucasus? What’s the difference between fission and fusion? Whigs and Tories? Shiites and Sunnis? Deduction and induction? Why aren’t all Shakespearean comedies necessarily thigh-slappers? What are transcendental numbers and what are they good for? What really happened in Plato’s cave? Is postmodernism dead or just having a bad hair day? And for extra credit, when should you use the adjective continual and when should you use continuous?An Incomplete Education answers these and thousands of other questions with incomparable wit, style, and clarity. American Studies, Art History, Economics, Film, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, Science, and World History: Here’s the bottom line on each of these major disciplines, distilled to its essence and served up with consummate flair.In this revised edition you’ll find a vitally expanded treatment of international issues, reflecting the seismic geopolitical upheavals of the past decade, from economic free-fall in South America to Central Africa’s world war, and from violent radicalization in the Muslim world to the crucial trade agreements that are defining globalization for the twenty-first century. And don’t forget to read the section A Nervous American’s Guide to Living and Loving on Five Continents before you answer a personal ad in the International Herald Tribune. As delightful as it is illuminating, An Incomplete Education packs ten thousand years of culture into a single superbly readable volume. This is a book to celebrate, to share, to give and receive, to pore over and browse through, and to return to again and again. |
Amazon.com Review
You'll find everything you forgot from school--as well as plenty you never even learned--in this all-purpose reference book, an instant classic when it first appeared in 1987. The updated version takes a whirlwind tour through 12 different disciplines, from American studies to philosophy to world history. Along the way, Judy Jones and William Wilson provide a plethora of useful information, from the plot of Othello to the difference between fission and fusion. It's not a shortcut to cultural literacy, the authors write in their introduction, but it's an excellent "way in" to the building blocks of Western civilization: the "books, music, art, philosophy, and discoveries that have, for one reason or another, managed to endure." Think of it as finishing school for your brain; study up and you'll gain a lifetime's worth of cocktail conversation--as well as a new list of books you simply must read. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 109 reviews)
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Education for Dummies by A. R. Stamiti (chicago)  5 Stars
November 27, 2009
Once in a while we get a little smug. We think we know all there is to know about all there is to know.My Daughter bought a copy of AN INCOMPLETE EDUCATION about 20 Years ago and I never have read it "page to page"...But anytime I open the cover I learn something in spite of my Dummy mentality. For example in my edition I just randomly flipped open to page 251 to find a Greek Literature Discussion of the The Iliad and the Odyssey,on page 318 a synopsis of Schopenhauer's take on Philosophy,on page 560 the life and loves of Louis XIV, and on and on. These random examples in and of themselves may not be your idea of an "Education" but it showed me how much I had either "forgotten" or just never knew.
I recently purchased a "newer" edition and sent to a good friend. The "magic" still works 20 years later. My friend "called me" to rave about the "gift that keeps giving".
I highly recommend this volume of over three thousand answers to trivia,substance and reference materials We are never so dumb as when we think we "know it all". [...]
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An Incomplete Education? by D. F. Barton (Southern Maine)  4 Stars
September 24, 2009
There are 678 pages of subjects. Jones and Wilson cover almost every possible subject. The book appears intimidating in size and scope. However, it is an easy read because subjects can be covered in one page. Just open to any page and read for 15 minutes and put it down if you desire.
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Aptly titled in the wrong way... by A. Reader  2 Stars
September 17, 2009
I was highly disappointed with the first edition - glaring omissions and inaccuracies abound. For example: Gerard Manley Hopkins is not even mentioned in the section concerning the British poets and in the chapter on religion, the authors make the boorish mistake of confusing the doctrine of the "Immaculate Conception" with that of the doctrine of the virgin birth of Christ. It might seem trivial to some, but if you want to write a book purporting to illuminate such topics, you better be up to the task, especially when your style is on the snide and cynical side. Maybe corrections were made in later editions, but I wouldn't count on it. Certainly a better read for this purpose is "A History of Knowledge: Past, Present, and Future" by Charles Van Doren, which Amazon also stocks.
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Poorly Written by Glenn W. Archer (Evanston, WY United States) 2 Stars
September 14, 2009
Hard to read, the author injects sloppy humor and anecdotes into the history. Making fun of historical figures, joking about religions and using sentences that are broken up by multiple parentheses.
Too bad I didn't read the reviews before I spent the money....
There is still some good info there but it's too much hassle to pick out the serious writing from the personal opinions
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An 'incomplete education' after reading "An Incomplete Education" by Carolee Arbeit 2 Stars
September 10, 2009
Topic coverage is all too, too cutsey. Trades humor for viable information. Entertains rather than educates. Want simple useful information? Purchase an elementary textbook on the subject and you will come away better informed.
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