This Book Is Not Required: An Emotional Survival Manual for Students [Paperback]

Inge Bell (Author), Bernard D. McGrane (Author), John A. Gunderson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1412910110 | ISBN-13: 978-1412910118 | Publication Date: December 9, 2004 | Edition: 3rd

This Book Is Not Required: An Emotional Survival Manual for Students has been regarded as a powerful tool to introduce students to the sociological analysis and personal reflection of college life. Now in its Third Edition, the book continues to educate students on the college experience as a whole-looking at the personal, social, intellectual, and spiritual demands and opportunities presented by college life. In a personable and refreshingly straightforward style, authors Inge Bell, Bernard McGrane, and John Gunderson critically discuss how academic life distinguishes between learning the institutional rules of higher education and internalizing those rules. The book demystifies professors and teaching assistants by discussing their institutional roles and incentives and invites students to take responsibility for-and make the most of-their educational experiences.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book SHOULD be required. Bell and McGrane have created a lively, insightful, and tangible source that the student can utilize in the classroom and in life. They want to read the book because it speaks to them and provides me a classroom full of hungry, alert minds."

(Melanie C. Klein )

About the Author

Bernard McGrane received his Ph.D. from New York University and taught at Vermont College, Colby College, Cuesta Community College, UCLA, Pitzer College, and the University of California, Irvine before accepting his current position at Chapman University. He is the author of Beyond Anthropology, Society and the Other, and The Un-TV and the 10 MPH Car-Experiments in Personal Freedom and Everyday Life.

John Gunderson received his Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University in 2003. John’s work is focused on the belief in the power of passionate teaching, awareness and learning and its ability to transform education and people’s lives. To this end, he has been actively publishing scholarly work and presenting at conferences such as AERA and AME. His published works have been about diverse topics from teaching and learning, school reform, college life and the media.

Inge Bell (1930-1996) received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. She helped organize the Berkeley/Oakland chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.), an experience that led to the publication of her first book, C.O.R.E.: The Strategy of Non-Violence. She taught sociology at Pitzer College until 1982, and wrote the first edition of This Book Is Not Required in 1985.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Pine Forge Press; 3rd edition (December 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1412910110
• ISBN-13: 978-1412910118
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #387,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A life-changing book., August 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: This Book Is Not Required: An Emotional Survival Manual for Students (Paperback)

My best friend and I discovered the first edition of this book in a used bookstore while we were in college. We talked about and quoted its advice for the rest of our time in school, and even now that we've graduated, the book still comes up in our conversations from time to time.

Bell's chapter on love is worth the price of the book in itself; it distills academic critiques of Western notions of romantic love into clear-headed advice for young people learning to deal with sex and relationships. But that's only a small part of a book about what it really means to learn and think for yourself, what it means to be a good teacher, and all the ways the modern university can fail to support true learning. Everything from the chapter on questioning conventional career ambitions to the section on the definition of the self is influenced by progressive sociology and Eastern spirituality, but Bell presents her challenging ideas in ways that her student audience can easily relate to.

I recommend the book to anyone who's in college. It'll rearrange your mind and get you thinking about your life and your surroundings in ways you never have before.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lifesaving and Lifechanging, January 10, 2002

By 

"brwnpaprbg" (Newport Coast, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Book Is Not Required: An Emotional Survival Manual for Students (Paperback)

Reading this book for the first time (I have read it many times since) I was most impacted by the chapter on grades. Bell hits the nail on the head: the entire system of grading, whether necessary for ranking students or not, does influence the way students perceive themselves. True learning happens when one is free from the quest for an A...when one is learning for the learning's sake.

This book is an excellent emotional and psychological lifesaver for any high school, college, or grad student. I love this book!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential book for college undergrads, December 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: This Book Is Not Required: An Emotional Survival Manual for Students (Paperback)

"This book was written for me." That is what you will say after reading the first few chapters. It tells all about why we do the things that we do in college, such as procrastinating, cramming, lazyness, and other college-related things. It also explains professors and how to get on their good side and why they act the way they do. This book also explains college love and what happens when you graduate. Inge Bell is completely on the level with us, it make you feel as though you have a link to the inside of college institutions. It's a must-read.