Homework for Grown-ups advertises that it is the book that can give the answers to all of these questions and more. Now I know what you all might be thinking. Why would I want to read a book that essentially takes the dozen or so years of schooling between kindergarten and the end of high school and boils them down to a few succinct pages? There's a few reasons.
1) Although our brains are very large and highly capable, they do lose a lot of random bits of knowledge over the years. Just like any instrument, if we don't work to keep our brain in shape, it will eventually lose the hard earned knowledge that we spent so many years obtaining. This book helps keep the brain sharp.
2) How many times have you helped a younger sibling or relative with some school work and simply could not remember how to figure out the square root of 169? (By the way, it's 13) This book is a useful guide for those types of situations.
The book is broken down into individual chapters discussing specific subjects in school. The chapters are essentially formatted like those survey courses we all knew and loved in college. They don't delve deeply into the development of a particular subject, but hit on the key ideas. For example, the chapter, "English Language and Literature", has a quick discussion of the key texts that one should be familiar with. After each title, it has a quick line or two discussing the book. I particularly enjoyed the reference to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in this section.
After each chapter, there is a test for the reader. The questions range from true/false to multiple choice and extended response. As far as style is concerned, the book is at times sarcastic. I found that style to be quite refreshing and made for an easy to read experience.
The book is relatively long, about 351 pages, but it's no meant to be read from front to back. It's meant to be used as a quick reference guide. The idea is for the reader to page to the section about mathematics if he or she is working on something involving math. The reader does not need to read the whole book in one sitting. I found this development to be refreshing.
At times, the book can be a bit overambitious. It's a challenge to write for such a large audience, and some chapters were more interesting to me than others.I found the chapters discussing science to be very interesting and quite helpful, but the history chapter was a bit tedious. Some subjects are just more interesting than others I suppose. Also, it's impossible to fill all of the gaps that occur over the years. The book advertises that it "has all of the answers." Perhaps Random House's marketing team should have stated that the book "has plenty of answers" but that's not as easy to market.
The book is at it's best when the writers display a deft, sarcastic tone. It makes the reading much more fun and enjoyable. The book fails when it tries to stray away from that style. Perhaps that is why I did not enjoy the history chapter as much.
It retails for $20, but can be found on amazon for $13.59.
What was your favorite subject in school? My answer?
This sounds like a useful book;I may just pick it up!
ReplyDeleteI was that student in school that towards the end of the period/bell/class, I reminded the teacher that he/she had forgotten to give us our homework assignments. I love learning - as if that isn't obvs, but I think that this book would be amazing to read. Or a fun thing to do with friends over drinks? I'd have to check it out before I made that social engagement, though! Good to know!
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