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

This daily digest of intellectual challenge and learning will arouse curiosity, refresh knowledge, expand horizons, and keep the mind sharp

Millions of Americans keep bedside books of prayer and meditative reflection—collections of daily passages to stimulate spiritual thought and advancement. The Intellectual Devotional is a secular version of the same—a collection of 365 short lessons that will inspire and invigorate the reader every day of the year. Each daily digest of wisdom is drawn from one of seven fields of knowledge: history, literature, philosophy, mathematics and science, religion, fine arts, and music.

Impress your friends by explaining Plato's Cave Allegory, pepper your cocktail party conversation with opera terms, and unlock the mystery of how batteries work. Daily readings range from important passages in literature to basic principles of physics, from pivotal events in history to images of famous paintings with accompanying analysis. The book's goal is to refresh knowledge we've forgotten, make new discoveries, and exercise modes of thinking that are ordinarily neglected once our school days are behind us. Offering an escape from the daily grind to contemplate higher things, The Intellectual Devotional is a great way to awaken in the morning or to revitalize one's mind before retiring in the evening.

Raya Kuzyk - Library Journal

If ever a book were meant for listening, this is it. Previously available from Macmillan only as a digital download, this 2006 national best seller by Kidder and Oppenheim (Intellectual Devotional: American History) is now available for the first time on CD. The 365 daily lessons span the seven fields of knowledge: history, literature, philosophy, mathematics and science, religion, fine arts, and music. Narrators Oliver Wyman (www.oliverwyman.com) and Helen Litchfield, who also read for the American History entry in this series, assist listeners' efforts at retention with well-enunciated, cogent, and steadily paced readings. Absolutely essential for libraries serving populations gravitating more to CDs than digital downloads. [Audio clip available through audible.com; the next recording in this series, The Intellectual Devotional: Modern Culture, will be available on CD from Macmillan and Sound Library next month, in retail and library editions, respectively.-Ed.]