Your Intelligence Makeover: An Easy Way to Learn All You Need to Know [Hardcover]

Edward F. Droge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2005

Have you ever wished you could give your mind an upgrade, just as you can give one to your computer, car, kitchen, or wardrobe? Or that you could remember all-important phone numbers or shopping lists without fumbling with multiple slips of paper? Or speed-read or do lightning-fast everyday math calculations? Or that you could be a Renaissance man or woman and dazzle your friends at dinner with your mastery of dates and facts, artists and albums, presidents and policies? Now there is a way to give yourself this intellectual attention and improvement: With "Your Intelligence Makeover" you'll enjoy a makeover that is more than just skin deep.

With this book's three-week master plan, you'll learn the skills you need to nip and tuck your own knowledge -- you'll double or triple your reading speed and dramatically improve your memory. Then you'll have access to a wide body of information to kick it up a notch and rise to a higher intellectual plane. Whether you want to start a new career, complete your education, brush up your cultural literacy, increase your knowledge of a favorite subject, or simply chat up friends, family, and associates with a fascinating array of anecdotes, you can use the easy-to-learn secrets of education specialist Dr. Edward F. Droge, Jr., to launch new chapters in your own life.

A former New York City police officer who went to Yale in his thirties as an undergraduate and then on to Harvard to earn a master's and a doctorate, Dr. Droge reveals the "Super Tools," which he developed to fuel his own success, to help you create your unique, personalized makeover plan. Take the entertaining self-assessment quizzes to find the areas in which you need to brush upand then use the Super Tools to immerse yourself in virtually any subject. Filled with mind-expanding sidebars and a vast reservoir of resources for learning in multiple subject areas (including History, Literature, Grammar, Math, Art, Science, Sports, Music, and much more), "Your Intelligence Makeover" promises to put you on the right track to tapping the limitless power of your intelligence for satisfaction and gain.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Edward Droge's "Your Intelligence Makeover" is an engaging book, a kind of hybrid between the "McGuffey's Readers" and E. D. Hirsch's "Cultural Literacy." Great tips on raising reading speed and comprehension, on mnemonic devices to aid one in remembering details, and the like, balanced by executive summaries of knowledge across a wide expanse of topics. The intelligence quizzes are worth the price of the book, just to take to gatherings to test your friends."

-- Patrick F. Bassett, president, National Association of Independent Schools

About the Author

Before entering the field of Education, Edward F. Droge, Jr., Ed.D., was a police officer in New York City. He earned his B.A. in English at Yale, graduating cum laude, and earned his master's and doctoral degrees at Harvard. He taught expository writing at Harvard and helped launch three teacher education programs there. His academic articles have appeared in national and regional newspapers and journals. He has worked for twenty-five years as headmaster, teacher, and consultant at independent schools in programs ranging from pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade. His national honors and distinctions include induction into the Cum Laude Society. Visit him at www.drdroge.com. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (August 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743270622
• ISBN-13: 978-0743270625
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,423,882 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR -- BEST BUY, November 28, 2005

By 

Mark Twain - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Intelligence Makeover: An Easy Way to Learn All You Need to Know (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful, fun, and powerful book, filled with great learning strategies and resources.

Since getting it I have tripled my reading speed, improved my memory, and explored several subjects that I have been wanting to explore for years. I can't say enough about the positive effect this book is having on my life. It's like chocolate, you just want to keep going back for more. In the "Super Tools" section, the author lays out the instructions in an inviting, easy-to-follow format. He provides methods to increase reading speed and improve memory, and offers a practical guide to good writing. Though he taught writing at Harvard, he does not pretend that this section is a substitute for a course. He says it is meant to be a fundamental guide to writing well every time you write, no matter the kind of writing or its purpose. In the reading section, the concepts are accessible. The author seems to have gone to great lengths to keep it simple, not complicated, not confusing, but understandable, graspable - thank goodness. (Believe me, if I can triple my reading speed, anyone can.) In the memory section, there are dozens of great strategies for better memory in all tasks - from school, to work, to everyday tasks - from remembering names, dates, and long lists, to where you left your keys and where you parked the car. I wish I had had this info when I went to school, but it's still tremendously useful to me now. A nice portion of the book is devoted to resources for a dozen or so subject areas - like History, Literature, Music, Math, Science, Art, Sports, Gardening, etc. (Don't miss the math section where you can learn how to do math in your head faster than a calculator.) In each section, author provides introductory paragraphs with suggestions of books to read and web sites to visit, and then offers "starter" facts, essays (Don't miss the "Renaissance in a Nutshell" essay in the Art History section, and the "Crash Course in Early Empires" essay in the World History section.), book lists, categories of web sites, and other resources like museums and libraries. The idea is to go into each subject as little or as much as you like. (I'm having a ball reacquainting myself with familiar subjects like World History and Sports, and exploring new ones - like Art History. I've always wanted to know more about Art History, and after reading the Renaissance essay, I went to the web sites suggested in the intro, and found an enormous amount of info. Congrats to author for providing great sites and books -- fantastic.) I'm guessing that colleges and corporations are going to take to this book for the help, motivation, and inspiration it can offer.

My suggestion: if there is one book you buy this year, this should be it. The subtitle says it all -- "an easy way to learn all you need to know".

14 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars No difference than other stuff on how to improve your intelligence, November 26, 2005

By 

RK (Mpls, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Intelligence Makeover: An Easy Way to Learn All You Need to Know (Hardcover)

I am not for sure how the one review gave this book 5 star. First off, the author has you do quizzes in which he does not lay the foundation for getting them right until later in the chapters. For example, quiz 1 is in the introduction and he talks about which one these books did Hester Prynne write, which author composed the Five Bird, etc but in the pages before the quiz, there is no foundation for the quiz. What's the point of them without a foundation?

What I found most upsetting about the book was most of his information is taken from other sources although he does not give credited to these sources. For example, the chapter on increase your reading this is the same stuff you find in reading books on how to increase your reading like programs such as Mega Reading. In the book this author talks about using a timer to time your reading speed, looked at groups of words instead on one word to increase your speed, don't re-read etc. Also, the chapter on improve your memory looked like it was taken right from Mega Memory. He talks about pegging, visualization, etc. The chapter on improve your writing is so basic it's not funny. He talks about brainstorming and outlining, keep your thoughts flowing in the beginning of the writing process etc. Again, this is stuff we learn in college. The point is, there is nothing new in the book and I am glad I found it at a used bookstore for $1.00.

11 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make Over Your Own Intelligence!, October 19, 2005

By 

viktor_57 "viktor_57" (Fairview, Your Favorite State, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Intelligence Makeover: An Easy Way to Learn All You Need to Know (Hardcover)

I deluded myself for many years thinking that my intelligence was just as attractive as it was back in college. During those years of youthful hubris, I took for granted my taut verbal capacity, my long, flowing spatial ability, and especially my sculpted, well-defined reasoning and logic. I don't mind saying that I turned a few heads back then.

Recently, however, I've noticed that people no longer notice me as they once did. I admit to being vain about my intelligence, and tried to cover up my sagging apperception and sallow comprehension with artificial coloring and witty but trite rejoinders, but people saw through my pathetic cosmetic concealments. Finally, I decided I needed a makeover, so I picked up and read "Your Intelligence Makover" by Dr. Doge.

Now if anyone can give advice about making over ones intelligence, that person must be Dr. Doge. At an age when most people are beginning the approach to middle-aged complacency and decrepitude, Dr. Doge returned to school, completed undergraduate studies at Yale and earned a Harvard doctorate in education. I imagine the good doctor must now simply radiate healthy and youthful intelligence.

Thanks to the exercises and advice Dr. Doge prescribes in his book, I have both firmed and toned my intelligence. I look in the mirror now and can see that I have regained the glow of youthful vigor, while adding the maturity of years to lend my intelligence an air of eminence grise. I am turning heads once more and feel like a million IQ points!