Book Review Friday: How to Think: The Liberal Arts and Their Enduring Value

Okay, I'm caught, it's Saturday.

I had every intention of getting this post done yesterday.  But I suddenly turned domestic and spent the day doing laundry, empty a few boxes out of the basement (they've been there since we moved in 12 years ago) and ... cooking and baking!!  I do love a day off when I can just relax and have fun in the kitchen.  So I made Challah bread, a really delish apple pie baked burrito, and for dinner a great recipe I found on Pinterest for Better than Panda Orange Chicken, and it was!


And now for the book review, which is in fact, NOT a book.  How to Think: The Liberal Arts and Their Enduring Value is a lecture course by Dr. Michael D. C. Drout.  It it part of the Modern Scholar series by Recorded Books.  In this course Professor Drout presents his arguments for why a liberal arts education is still worth the tuition dollars it costs, even if there are no jobs for Art History majors.  Drout's argument is that regardless of whether or not you get a job in that degree field, the underlying education, the overarching grounding in logic, rhetoric, and writing skills prepares a person to excel in any endeavor.  The liberal arts he posits teach students how to think, how to reason, how to persuade, how to lead.  This has been the raison d'etre for a liberal arts education since Greek and Roman times. Drout uses his background as a Medieval English specialist to back up his claims, with one lecture devoted to a case study on Beowulf (fascinating).  He also answers the critics of liberal arts, admitting to the faults that have crept into academia, while suggesting ways to remedy them.  While this lecture series might have a limited appeal, I highly recommend it to any student hoping to convince his/her parents that paying for that Art History degree isn't a waste of money and to anyone interested in or already in possession of a degree in one of the softer sciences.

Drout's lectures are presented in a breezy, conversational style.  While the occasional pause lets you know he is referring to notes for the most part his delivery is natural and flowing.  His presentations are humorous, informative, and well-researched. From the "About Your Professor" section of From Here to Infinity:

Michael D.C. Drout is the William and Elsie Prentice Professor of English at

Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, where he teaches courses in Old

and Middle English, medieval literature, Chaucer, fantasy, and science fiction.

Professor Drout received his Ph.D. in medieval literature from Loyola

University in 1997. He also holds M.A. degrees from Stanford (journalism)

and the University of Missouri-Columbia (English literature) and a B.A. from

Carnegie Mellon.

Full disclosure: I am an absolute Michael Drout fan.  I think I have listened to all of his lecture series.  He has done eleven.  For librarians especially, his surveys of Science Fiction (From Here to Infinity) and Fantasy (Rings, Swords, and Monsters) literature can be a great help to the perplexed reader's adviser.

Audio Books Go Mainstream

"Once I had a secret love ... my secret love's no secret, anymore." (from the movie Calamity Jane).

Well the secret is definitely out!  Audio books are moving front and center in the publishing world.  Check out this article at the Wall Street Journal, "Can You Hear Me Now? The New Explosion in Audio Books" for a discussion of what's going on in the audio world.  Now that, in the words of Hachette Audio VP, Anthony Goffe, "Everybody has an audio book player in their pocket at this point" sales have taken off.  In fact, Hachette has seen their sales go up over 30% in the past year.
Of course, not quite everyone has a smart phone, but we're getting there and the major audio book publishers as well as straight downloadable companies like Audible (part of the Amazon corporation) are taking full advantage.  This is great news for libraries and lovers of audio books because higher demand is bringing prices down and expanding the list of available titles for downloadable audios and  traditional CDs alike.
While the debate will go on about whether or not listening to a book is the same as reading it or better or worse, the fact remains that audio books are here to stay.  Not just for the visually impaired, but also for the commuter, the treadmill user, the crafter, and the dozens of other reasons that people choose to listen rather than read.
Personally, I listen while I commute.  Nothing to heavy, I've found there are certain books that require too much concentration to make good commuter fair.  But in some cases I have found that listening to a book actually enhanced the experience.  One recent title that comes to mind is Sutton by J R Moehringing.  The print version was leaving me cold, the narration by Dylan Baker brought the book to life for me.
Haven't tried an audio book yet?  You never know what you might like until you try.