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Susan Wise Bauer
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The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had Hardcover – August 1, 2003

by Susan Wise Bauer (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 187 ratings
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An engaging, accessible guide to educating yourself in the classical tradition.

Have you lost the art of reading for pleasure? Are there books you know you should read but haven't because they seem too daunting? In The Well-Educated Mind, Susan Wise Bauer provides a welcome and encouraging antidote to the distractions of our age, electronic and otherwise. In her previous book, The Well-Trained Mind, the author provided a road map of classical education for parents wishing to home-school their children, and that book is now the premier resource for home-schoolers. In this new book, Bauer takes the same elements and techniques and adapts them to the use of adult readers who want both enjoyment and self-improvement from the time they spend reading.

The Well-Educated Mind offers brief, entertaining histories of five literary genres―fiction, autobiography, history, drama, and poetry―accompanied by detailed instructions on how to read each type. The annotated lists at the end of each chapter―ranging from Cervantes to A. S. Byatt, Herodotus to Laurel Thatcher Ulrich―preview recommended reading and encourage readers to make vital connections between ancient traditions and contemporary writing.

The Well-Educated Mind reassures those readers who worry that they read too slowly or with below-average comprehension. If you can understand a daily newspaper, there's no reason you can't read and enjoy Shakespeare's Sonnets or Jane Eyre. But no one should attempt to read the "Great Books" without a guide and a plan. Susan Wise Bauer will show you how to allocate time to your reading on a regular basis; how to master a difficult argument; how to make personal and literary judgments about what you read; how to appreciate the resonant links among texts within a genre―what does Anna Karenina owe to Madame Bovary?―and also between genres. Followed carefully, the advice in The Well-Educated Mind will restore and expand the pleasure of the written word.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    432 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    August 1, 2003
  5. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1.5 x 9.6 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0393050947
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0393050943
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bauer's The Well-Trained Mind (which she co-wrote with Jessie Wise) taught parents how to educate kids; her latest is designed for adults seeking self-education in the classical tradition. Reading-sustained, disciplined and structured-is her core methodology, so she starts with tips on improving reading skills and setting up a reading schedule (start with half-hour sessions four mornings a week, with daily journal writing). Reading is a discipline, like meditating or running, she says, and it needs regular exercise. To grow through reading-to reach the "Great Conversation" of ideas-Bauer outlines the three stages of the classical tradition: first, read for facts; then evaluate them; finally, form your own opinions. After explaining the mechanics of each stage (e.g., what type of notes to take in the book itself, or in the journal), Bauer begins the list section of the book, with separate chapters for her five major genres: fiction, autobiography/memoir, history/politics, drama and poetry. She introduces each category with a concise discussion of its historical development and the major scholarly debates, clearly defining all important terms (e.g., postmodernism, metafiction). And then, the piece de resistance: lists, in chronological order, of some 30 major works in each genre, complete with advice on choosing the edition and a one-page synopsis. Bauer has crafted a timeless, intelligent book.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Written in a straightforward style accessible to most students, this readable book provides solid, step-by-step advice on how to read some of the world's great books with discipline and comprehension. The first four chapters explain the author's well-thought-out three-step program, how and why it works, and how to prepare to use it. The remainder of the volume devotes a chapter each to analysis of novels, autobiography/memoirs, history, drama, and poetry. The system involves reading each book three times: once for the facts, once for analysis, and once for an informed evaluation of the author's ideas. Readers are encouraged during this process to mark up their books with comments and questions in the margins (or use Post-Its), and to keep a journal of quotes, summaries, questions, and ruminations. The genre chapters include some history, a discussion of important terms used, questions about the books that readers will want to ask themselves, a thoughtful pr‚cis of 25 or so important titles presented chronologically (with discussion of the changes in the genre over the centuries), and recommendations for the best and cheapest editions of each title. Works range from the Greeks to Francis Fukuyama, from Cervantes to Don Delillo, from Homer to Rita Dove. Some Web sites are also mentioned as sources for understanding. While few teens will want or have time to read a book three times, most will find much of value in helping them to understand their reading assignments.
Judy McAloon, Potomac Library, Prince William County, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Annotated edition (August 1, 2003)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393050947
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393050943
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.65 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 187 ratings

About the author

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Susan Wise Bauer

Susan Wise Bauer

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Susan was born in 1968, grew up in Virginia, and was educated at home by pioneering parents, back when home education was still unheard of. She worked as a professional musician, wore a costume at Colonial Williamsburg, toured with a travelling drama group, galloped racehorses at a Virginia racetrack, taught horseback riding, worked in radio and newspaper ad sales, learned enough Korean to teach a Korean four-year-old Sunday school, and served as librarian and reading tutor for the Rita Welsh Adult Literacy Center in Williamsburg, Virginia.

In her less haphazard adult life, she earned an M.A., M.Div., and Ph.D. She has taught at the College of William & Mary in Virginia for the last sixteen years. Susan is married and the mother of four.

Susan's most recent book for Norton, The Story of Western Science: From the Writings of Aristotle to the Big Bang Theory (2015), guides us back to the original texts that have changed the way we think about our world, our cosmos, and ourselves.!

Her previous book, The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had (2003), is a guide to reading the classic works of fiction, poetry, history, autobiography, and drama. Norton also published The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (with co-author Jessie Wise); originally published in 1999, this bestselling guide to education in the classical tradition was revised and updated in 2004 and again in 2009.

For Peace Hill Press, Susan has written a four-volume world history series for children, The Story of the World, for Peace Hill Press. Volume 1, Ancient Times, was published in 2002 (revised edition 2006); Volume 2, The Middle Ages, in 2003 (revised edition 2007); and Volume 3, Early Modern Times, in 2004. The final volume, The Modern Age, was published in 2006. She has also written a best-selling elementary writing program, Writing With Ease.

Susan is also the author of The Art of the Public Grovel (Princeton University Press) and many articles and reviews. Visit her blog at http://www.susanwisebauer.com/blog.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
187 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Gandalf
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Fantastic!
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2003
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I typically buy 75-100 books a year through Amazon[.com] and spend hours and hours reading reviews before I ultimately make my purchase. When I [got]Bauer's book, I just couldn't put it down. Not only does she lay out in detail the necessary steps in developing an appreciation and understanding for the "Great Books of Civilization" she actually shows you how to do it and gives you an abundant of resources to aid you if you need more help. Not since Mortimer Adler's book "How to Read a Book" have I ever come across such a lucid approach to raising one's awareness of the world's greatest writers.

In addition to laying out the groundwork for setting up a self-study program, Bauer provides a detailed approach to each of her recommended readings, from "The Epic of Gilgamesh, c. 2000 B.C. to Elie Wiesel's "All Rivers Run to the Sea", 1995.

A warning however for the "undisciplined mind". Unless you are prepared to commit the necessary time (Bauer recommends 30 minutes a day, 4 days a week) to do some "really serious reading" using a personalized "commonplace book" (which she describes in detail) to record your learnings and critiques -- you are wasting your time. It's akin to losing 25 pounds through disciplined dieting or getting out of debt in 12 months through focused efforts. You either commit yourself to a life-long learning plan to raise your consciousness and self-awarness or simply go back and waste away by watching T.V. and munching on your doritos. The choice is yours.
751 people found this helpful
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Kodiak1221
5.0 out of 5 stars Great refresher on how to think
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2012
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This book is ideal for anyone interested in reading and truly understanding great works of literature. It is perfect for anyone who is hard wired for a regimented system. I managed to do quite well getting through college without really ever reading and understanding the texts I was required to read, as an adult I wanted to try to read these texts and actually appreciate them. I concluded that perhaps though my comprehension was fine, my critical approach needed revising. I picked this book up because I was not quite ready to read the rather large "how to read a book" by Adler. I have since read both books and this one in my opinion, is a little easier to read. I. Recommend reading this first, then Adler's book after.

I like "well educated mind" because it provides a system, and part of that is that she provides questions you should be answering on your various reads specific to each genre. This is immediately helpful in making sure you are doing more than just reading but actually engaging the text. She provides a system of journal writing that I have found quite helpful and now use for every book I read. Too many times I plowed through a great work and afterward had literarily no idea or appreciation for what I just read, this book was perfect to get me to truly understand great works.
27 people found this helpful
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Phillip McCollum
4.0 out of 5 stars When you gather data, you become informed. When you read, you develop wisdom.
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2015
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With "The Well-Educated Mind," Susan Wise Bauer gracefully takes up the torch long held by Mortimer J. Adler, and becomes the modern advocate for purposeful reading.

She gives us her own interpretation of what it means to “read well” and, thankfully, holds our hand a little more than Adler does in "How to Read a Book." You can think of their two works as a pair of college textbooks--Adler’s is for general instruction while Bauer’s contains the detailed steps and procedures use for lab work.

Her book begins with a general overview of the “whats, whys, and hows” of classical education and then subsequent chapters dive into medium-specific analysis--novels, autobiographies, history, drama, and poetry. It’s obviously not an end-all-be-all list of classical education material, but enough to cover the literary bases (as Bauer states, “List making is a dangerous occupation.”)

Within each of those chapters is an outline of questions we should ask ourselves, specific to that medium. Then we’re given a list of recommended books at the end of each section, each book having its own synopsis.

The one notion I disagree with Bauer on is sticking to one medium at a time in order to grasp the chronological flow of work. In my opinion, many of these classics reference stories outside of their own medium, so I personally feel a wider breadth of reading is more beneficial. For example, if you don’t familiarize yourself with the poetic and historical books of the Bible, you’re going to miss references in all sorts of novels and plays.

But I do agree with the overall message put out by Bauer (and Adler): You get out what you put in. It’s slow going at first, sometimes mind-numbingly so, but like anything worth doing, it takes practice. And like anything you practice, the more you work at it, the faster and more natural it becomes (the fact that I’m typing up my notes more regularly is a good example. :) )

Though both Bauer and Adler admit that not all books require the same level of thought, only by working through the various stages of what classical education calls the trivium--grammar, logic, rhetoric--can the reader be sure they’re getting the most out of books that do matter.
10 people found this helpful
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Fibonacci
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Resource for Those Looking to Augment Their Own Education
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2014
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I loved the first part of this book. In it, Bauer lays out the foundation for what a classic education should look like, how people in the past of earned it without the benefit of schooling, and how you, as an individual can get your own. Her reasoning is well thought out and well researched and supported. The second part of the book is the list of books she recommends along with notes on what to look for. I ultimately decided to take matters into my own hands and augment her list with classic books of my own choosing, leaving off some of her suggestions either because I have already read them or because I wanted to go in a different direction. The net result is that I have designed a syllabus of my own to keep my busy for the next few years with a well thought out plan of action that should give me the kind of foundation I am looking for. I also appreciated Bauer's insights on how to take notes and the importance of finding like-minded people you can share ideas with. Sharing those ideas, it turns out, it essential to solidifying these concepts in our thinking.
14 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Paul Shinkar
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read.
Reviewed in Canada on August 8, 2020
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Great book that really makes you think.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Like it
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 17, 2014
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Brillant for the adult who wants to remedy a so-so education.
4 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on July 29, 2017
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good
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IP
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 16, 2015
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Brillaint!
One person found this helpful
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tbonewalker
4.0 out of 5 stars Great guide, but light on science and political philosophy
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 1, 2013
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For a hard-working, but unsatisfied product of the British curriculum, I was looking for a starting point from which to develop a lifelong habit in studying PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics), science and literature for fun.

The Well-Educated Mind (though I am still working through it) seems to be a very good starting point and a practical guide (in terms of helping you develop the reading habit and teaching how to read for different purposes), but the reading lists are not quite comprehensive enough.

The solution, in my mind, is to grab a copy of The Well-Educated Mind and supplement the reading lists with the 1972 version of Mortimer J. Adler's classic 'How to Read a Book'. This will fill the gaps where Da Vinci, the Stoics and some of the other theological classics are missing in Susan Wise Bauer's book.

A final positive for this book is the fact that I have stuck at it - this book is a program, not just educational theory and reading lists and, as such, compliance should be considered a major factor in its success.
16 people found this helpful
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