Rating: 
Summary: Great gift, even for yourself.
Review: After giving this book to my daughter upon her graduation, I found I couldn't resist buying another copy for myself. Whether you're interested in a "refresher" or in a quick briefing on an academic area you never had time for--film studies, for example--or structuralist and post-structuralist criticism--you're likely to find the field treated in this lively, fascinating, edifying volume. The authors provide definitions, canons of the essential works, profiles of major contributors to the field, and judicious evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of each major thinker or artist. When an individual, text or movement is overrated or becoming passe, the authors are not afraid to say so. And unlike similar collections--the "Dummies" books, for example--this text is far more than an accumulation of trivia. The authors manage to provide narrative continuity to each academic area and, above all, a sense of perspective. Since their judgements strike me as on target in the areas with which I'm familiar, I'm inclined to trust them in those disciplines I don't know much about. The only reason not to pick up the book right away is the possibility that a new edition is just around the corner.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing incomplete about it
Review: As one review stated, you'll find everything you learned in school but have forgotten, and all the things you DIDN'T learn. This is a well-put-together book of all the things you wanted to know, but felt stupid asking. Would also recommend two other great books. One is along the lines of this one (Eats, Shoot & Leaves) and the other is fiction (The Bark of the Dogwood). Both are excellent as is this one.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment
Review: As someone looking for a concise "adult's encyclopedia", I found this extremely disappointing. The authors have organized the book sensibly and chosen the topics well, but they insist on utilizing a tongue-in cheek style that I didn't find amusing, and certainly isn't appropriate to a work characterized as a serious reference tool.
Rating:
Summary: Almost perfect
Review: Basically I loved the concept of this book and there is no other like it. I think for the number of topics they had to cover (the more the better!) they did a great job. The only criticism I have about this book is that it seemed to be VERY biased. For a book that is supposed to be general information it shouldn't be. Example: they would categorize artists in their descriptions as good or bad ("not worth looking at"). Um....that's for us to decide right? Another example: When discussing the differences between Democrats and Republicans they might as well have just edited the whole thing and written: "Democrats good - Republicans bad".
So on that note it makes me read EVERYTHING they are writing with some aprehension. Bottom line: good book but too biased. For those of us who are non student-types the humor is appreciated.
...
Rating:
Summary: Okay, I guess...for what it is...
Review: Did any of this book's admirers ever spend time in a university library, or were the poor lambs too badly wounded by their encounters with radical professors and P.C. activists to spend any more time on campus than was actually necessary? AIC is certainly not a bad reference book, but the humor really is pretty lame; there's a difference between sounding light, witty and discursive and merely jokey and unserious in an O'Rourkian vein, and you don't have to be the kind of sap who sings along to "Spanish Bombs" to be dismayed by the adolescent sarcasm in the book's discussion of political history, though you might actually have to read a bit of Chomsky to see what's wrong with the section on his ideas. (After the Cataclysm really is a bad book, and he showed poor judgment in the Faurrisson affair, but not in the ways the authors suggest.) I mean, getting beyond the sloganizing is a crucial first step, but it isn't the last one, even in a book that's only intended to introduce the reader to a vast array of subjects. The other sections are fine, as far as I know, but like the authors I'm not comfortably familiar with the poetry of Fernando Pessoa, so I may not be the best judge of these things...
Rating:
Summary: Items you didn't pursue in the term paper are here.
Review: Did you ever wonder if an earl ranks higher than a baron or what that quote at the beginning of the chapter meant or where it came from? The answers are here. One can drift around in this book full of information only touched on while reading the required books in school or sail in search of specific topics for which there was not time before the shipwreck. Of course, those who are completely educated could just thumb through and congratulate themselves while wondering who in the world wouldn't know THAT. Either way, the time spent waiting for rescue from the island would seem much shorter with this book in hand. In fact, I may just want to stay right there in my hammock and find out what all those musical terms mean or become acquainted with the twelve literary characters essential to making charming chitchat. Just think how learned I shall appear when I get home. I only hope my glasses arrived on the island with me and this book!
Janie Dillon(hookie@clemson.campus.mci.net)
Rating:
Summary: Hard to find, but grab it anyway!
Review: Everything you ever wanted to know, or needed to know but didn't even know it, is probably in this book.
Think of this book as an abridged encyclopedia. Judy Jones and William Wilson have compiled more information than you could imagine in one easy-to-read, even fun-to-read, volume. Clearly organized, well written, respectful, and intelligent, this book will make you an instant experton topics you hadn't even thought of.
Read from start to end, or just pick a page at random, you'll be entertained, informed, and educated. Art, History, Politics, Religion, Sciences, Music, Philosophy, Architecture, Lierature, and Psychology. Even a crash couse on the do's and don'ts of writing English. You name it, it's in here somewhere.
My only complaint, it's time for an update. Or a Volume 2. This one's a must have
Rating:
Summary: Hard to find, but grab it anyway!
Review: Everything you ever wanted to know, or needed to know but didn't even know it, is probably in this book. Think of this book as an abridged encyclopedia. Judy Jones and William Wilson have compiled more information than you could imagine in one easy-to-read, even fun-to-read, volume. Clearly organized, well written, respectful, and intelligent, this book will make you an instant experton topics you hadn't even thought of. Read from start to end, or just pick a page at random, you'll be entertained, informed, and educated. Art, History, Politics, Religion, Sciences, Music, Philosophy, Architecture, Lierature, and Psychology. Even a crash couse on the do's and don'ts of writing English. You name it, it's in here somewhere. My only complaint, it's time for an update. Or a Volume 2. This one's a must have
Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: Everything you really need to know to sound intellectual, but not really know every subject in enough depth to bore you
Rating:
Summary: So Good It Was Stolen!
Review: I bought this book about 2 years ago and couldn't put it down! I could always refer back to it to find something that isn't in a regular encyclopaedia, but not since I told my mother about it!! She borrowed it 6 months ago and still won't give it back, though it's good enough I might just buy another copy. If you buy this book you won't regret it for a minute... unless you lend it out!
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