The Intellectual Devotional: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class

Even as a child I've felt that my education was missing something -- focus, organization, continuity... I'm not really sure what, but I seem to always be looking for a way to fill in the gaps. "The Intellectual Devotional" is one of many books I've acquired that claim to do just that -- and so far, it is pretty disappointing. The back cover says it will "keep your mind sharp and refresh your spirit", but I don't think it does either of those things. For one thing, each subject is very short. One page per subject -- so one can expect only superficial knowledge. Another thing is that I don't think there were more than maybe 3 or 4 subjects (in the 365 lessons) that I didn't already know something about. This isn't to brag, it's just that show more the subjects are so broad and well-known, that you aren't learning much more than you already knew about say, Louis XIV of France, or "Waiting for Godot". It covers 7 field of study (you read one page a day, and in a week you've covered 7 subjects--I decided to read 7 pages a day instead just to finish the book), but the readings are not placed in any order as far as chronology or development or themes go. So, for example, the first week you read about 1) the Alphabet, 2) "Ulysses", 3) Lascaux Cave Paintings, 4) Cloning, 5) The Basics of Music, 6) Appearance and Reality, and 7) Torah. There is no connection between the subjects. If you take one subject, say, Science, and read just that subject each day, you get: Cloning, Eratosthenes, The Solar System, The Greenhouse Effect, and so on. You see what I mean? I think this book is best used as a way to review for a game of "Jeopardy". show less

Devotionals don't usually appeal to me since I'm not religious, but this is a devotional of a different sort. This collection has a page for each day, loaded with information about influential authors, books, works of art, artists, religion, math, and science. Even the educated can learn something in this handy tome...the true story of the strange circumstances leading to Mozart's death, what makes Ulysses such a special book, why religions treasure certain places and things, and what lead to now-common mathematical equations we all had to learn in high school. This book can pique interest in subjects you've never read about, and can inspire you to reread a beloved book. I myself had such fun with this book that I used it as inspiration show more to jot down some ideas for short stories and books. The only thing that disappointed me is that the music section was devoted to classical music only (I was hoping to read a passage on the Beatles, even though I'm pretty well versed in their history [huge fan!]), but luckily a second edition will be making its way to bookshelves soon. This is a wonderful read that can be enjoyed one bit at a time, and you can even skip through and/or use the index if you want to read about certain things. I really loved this book - a combination of educational and fun! show less

What a fun book! I enjoyed this very much, although I confess that I also was not able to stick to one entry a day. I learned so much about science, classical music, art, history, religion, etc. from reading this book. It peaked my interest in reading more and more books about all the cool topics touched on therein.

Link to my 'Mostly NF' blog review to read and comment OR read the text right here:

I did this all wrong.

David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim put together a well-intentioned, self-teaching excursion into the humanities and I couldn't do it. The autodidactic* part of the exercise was no problem. It was the pace that didn't sit well with me. The authors designed The Intellectual Devotional as a page-a-day book patterned after Christian devotionals. The reader is supposed to absorb one passage each day, meditate on its meaning, and let it sink in. Each day of the week is devoted to a different topic. Monday is history, for example, followed the next six days by literature, the visual arts, science, music, philosophy, and religion.

The show more authors hoped to foster an education in the humanities over the course of a year. Each day: one page, one topic. Like its religious counterparts, this devotional even has a bound silk tassle bookmark. Good plan. The problem is that I can never stick to a page-a-day plan. Oh, I've tried: a "year in nature" book; a few "365 photographs" samplers, etc. I usually doze off after a few weeks when boredom sets in and other distractions appear.

I was determined to get through The Intellectual Devotional, though, so I devised a cunning plan. The library's loan was good for three weeks, so -- doing a little division -- I figured I could read 17 pages each day and cover the entire year before the book started setting off the overdue alarms. This was NOT what the authors had in mind, of course, but I was faithful to their single-subject per day idea. I read 17 Monday entries the first day, 17 Tuesday entries the next, and so on. Each topic's article stream progressed in a logical order so nothing seemed disjointed. Just faster.

This plan got me through the book. I surely would have stalled out before making it to Plato's cave allegory (Day 34) had I gone the page-per-day route. I think it was more enjoyable, too. The only thing that didn't work was the silky bookmark. I ended up with seven paper bookmarks: one for each day's place.

I learned quite a bit, too. A lot was trivia. Example: There exists a gravestone marked "Here Rests Mozart's Widow's Second Spouse." But many lessons had some depth -- as much depth as a single page can handle. Philosophy is a subject I endured in college but find that I can relate to better now that I'm older (my kids agree) and wiser (they disagree). I wish the book's topics weren't so lopsided toward the arts -- I mean, all human history in 52 pages? That's the same space devoted to classical music -- but the authors don't pretend to include everything. Perhaps the planned sequel will cover new ground next year.

* Great word, by the way: autodidact.

Find more of my reviews at Mostly NF show less

This charming daily devotional is a fantastic resource for curious minds. Every day of the year you will read about interesting facts, people, and events that may or may not be new to you, but will still be enlightening. A fabulous alternative to religious or woo-woo devotionals, and a great gift for students of any age.

This is a fun romp through history, culture, science, and the arts! A brief discussion of one topic per "day" (or page) gives an overview of some of the major events and figures in history (mostly Western but also including some Eastern). I found the book interesting and plan to read it again, and have already gotten another volume in the series (American History).

The book does need a better editor, however, as there were a few typos and grammatical errors that I noticed (consistent misuse of the word lead for the word led was the most irritating). When I see errors like that I fear there may be factual errors as well, but I hope that is not the case.

The book would also benefit from more consistent examples. Some pages give show more reproductions of the poems or art that is being discussed, or pictures of the people being profiled, but many do not. I understand the restraints of space and copyright but feel that many other visual "aids" could have been provided to make the explanations clearer. The best pages were those that showed as well as told!

Overall, I'd recommend this book for anyone hoping to improve his or her "cultural literacy" or refresh the memory of all those subjects from college. show less

I listen to one day every morning on my morning commute. I cannot say my motivation has to do with and desire to roam with the cultured class, however, this little work is providing a daily fix for a personal addiction of a ravenous sense of curiosity.