Customer Reviews

Improve Your Memory

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3 star:		(3)
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I wanted to be able to remember to take the trash out in the morning... this book teaches you how to remember that Lolita was written in 1958. Basically it uses word associations -- things like coming up with a little song ("In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue") or mnemonics (to remember that the elemental symbol for Tin is Sn, picture a tin snake so whenever you think of tin you think of a Snake). Then it teaches how to use this stuff to remember strings of numbers, dates, etc. Probably pretty useful for a schoolkid, but not for me. Also, this book is really better suited to the printed format because it has quizzes and stuff where you're supposed to sit there and study a set of numbers before flipping to the next page and seeing how much you remember -- a lot easier to look up and down the page than it is to rewind the audiobook over and over.

Let me make this clear: Improve Your Memory will help you if you don't know anything about the subject (i.e. about memory), however there are better books with more techniques. It also disappointed me when compared to the others in the series.

It has the advantage of being clearly written (though keeps repeating things that are written in the other books by Fry, which is a fault of all books in the series) and I believe it is a perfect book for high school. But if you already know about association techniques you should find another book.

As for the series, they are very informative, however very repetitive. They could easily be trimmed into a book of approximately the same size as each individual volume. They are cheap, but if instead of many you had to buy only one they would be cheaper.

I can't remember way I bought this book...... No really, it had some useful hints for helping get of my fear of oral examinations (I was working on my Ph.D. at the time and had to suffer through endless exams). It is full of useful tricks and techniques. Plus it was a couple of bucks, used.

I am 37 year old non traditional student going back to finish a masters degree and continue with law school. Fry's books have been helpful. I have especially appreciated his remarks about adult ADD, as I have had ADDsince 4th grade, but have been untreated until recently. I am glad that distinguished authors like Mr Fry state their positions about the condition and the use in as objective terms as possible, even if they are in disagreement with this "controversial" phenomenon. This is professional authorship. I would be remiss in telling Mr Fry how to improve upon his writing. I appreciate that physicians and psychiatrists who have helped me find my way through this maze of confusion are extended the same professional courtesy. To criticize a physician for his/her skills in medicine if one is not a doctor, or to ascertain that conditions like ADD dont exist just because a person doesnt "have it" themselves is contempt prior to investigation. Thank you