TY  - BOOK
TI  - The New York times presents Smarter by Sunday: 52 weekends of essential knowledge for the curious mind
SN  - 9780312571344 (hbk.)
AV  - AG106 .N493 2010
U1  - 031.02 22
PY  - 2010///
CY  - New York
PB  - St. Martin's Press
KW  - World History
KW  - Handbooks, manuals, etc
N1  - Includes index
N2  - This book does exactly what it sets out to do: provide readers with “very basic information in a variety of subjects usually associated with what was once called ‘a well-rounded education.’” Divided into 52 sections—a weekend’s worth of reading for an entire year—the text explores the history of newspapers and magazines, English poetry from Beowulf to the Victorians, the Bible, American fiction, ancient Egypt, the history of computing, radio and television, American cinema, and much, much more. It reads like the kind of textbook you wish you’d had in school: succinct, easily digestible, even stylishly written. It’s also mostly free of political side-taking or editorial commentary; its goal is to inform and provide context but not to make moral or artistic judgments. Adolf Hitler, for example, is discussed in terms of his political and military actions, and the classic films Jaws and Star Wars are described as “action-driven narratives fueled by mechanical and special effects, which became blockbusters that attracted youth audiences and set box-office records.” Readers are left to assign their own moral and artistic values. A very informative, very useful book. --David Pitt
ER  -