The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know

• Publisher:   Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Number Of Pages:   672
• Publication Date:   2002-10-03
• ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0618226478
• ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780618226474

In this fast-paced information age, how can Americans know what's really important and what's just a passing fashion? Now more than ever, we need a source that concisely sums up the knowledge that matters to Americans -- the people, places, ideas, and events that shape our cultural conversation. With more than six thousand entries,The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy is that invaluable source.
Wireless technology. Gene therapy. NAFTA. In addition to the thousands of terms described in the original Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, here are more than five hundred new entries to bring Americans' bank of essential knowledge up to date. The original entries have been fully revised to reflect recent changes in world history and politics, American literature, and, especially, science and technology. Cultural icons that have stood the test of time (Odysseus, Leaves of Grass, Cleopatra, the Taj Mahal, D-Day) appear alongside entries on such varied concerns as cryptography, the digital divide, the European Union, Kwanzaa, pheromones, SPAM, Type A and Type B personalities, Web browsers, and much, much more.
As our world becomes more global and interconnected, it grows smaller through the terms and touchstones that unite us. As E. D. Hirsch writes in the preface, "Community is built up of shared knowledge and values -- the same shared knowledge that is taken for granted when we read a book or newspaper, and that is also taken for granted as part of the fabric that connects us to one another." A delicious concoction of information for anyone who wants to be in the know, The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy brilliantly confirms once again that it is "an excellent piece of work . . . stimulating and enlightening" (New York Times) -- the most definitive and comprehensive family sourcebook of its kind.

Hirsch has done a great service for the public at large by compiling this reference work. Although the entries are intentionally very concise it lists for the reader all the basics and pointers needed to be literate in today's day and age. It masterfully avoids being superfluous. Supplements for specialized fields in this format would also be very useful to extend the core knowledge.

This is an excellent book for someone who wants to understand the basics of American culture, a survey. It contains definitions in alphabetical order. But do not be fooled--the information comes together through the definitions at the end of each section, making the book excellent for studying. As a recent FSO test taker, this book was somewhat helpful for answering the questions on the test.

I agree that every American should be culturally literate; however, many entries in this book are simply inaccurate. For example, Guttenberg did not invent the printing press, and he did not invent movable-type printing. These inventions trace their origin to the east, where they were used aeons before Guttenberg even conceived of them.
I was also left with the impression that this book is too eurocentric, failing to adequately respresent non-european ancient cultures, to whom many Americans now trace their ancestry. No mention is made of mathematical or scientific discoveries by non-european cultures. For example, no mention is made of the fact that the maya independently discovered the concept of zero, or that they built the largest pyramid in the ancient world (containing 15% more volume than Egypt's largest). These little-known facts are just as important to cultural literacy as the fact that the ancient Greeks invented logic. This is not to bash Europe. I think Europe is a great continent, with a rich history, and I certainly pay no homage to politically correct dimwits who equate tolerance with Europe-bashing. But Americans are increasingly diverse in their cultural and ethnic origins, and any book seeking to truly educate the American populace should keep that in mind...

Every American family should own this book! It has all the essential details presented in an organized, succinct manner. Easy to use, fun to flip to random pages and see what you do or do not remember from school.

I do not recommend this book. It is a dictionary and if you want to learn "What Every American Needs to Know" it is very hard to do so by reading a dictionary with entries arranged in alphabetical order. For example, in the section about the Bible, you will learn first who "Abraham and Isaac" are, before learning who "Adam and Eve" are, and even before learning what the "Bible" itself is, since it starts with the letter "B". The entries are supposed to be cross referenced, but this only means that words that have their own entries are highlighted in the explanations. Now you have to go to the index to find on what page they are explained, which is a waste of time. (Of course, it is a waste of time to use a printed dictionary in the first place.) The dictionary is divided into sections by topic. But these sections include too many different subtopics. For example, English-language writers and fictional characters are all in one section. Now, if you want a list of all the important English writers, you have to go through all the entries in the section. If you want all non-English language writers it's even worse - they are in the section "World literature, philosophy, and religion." If you want to learn "What Every American Needs to Know," you will want to go by categories instead of reading an entry for "philosophy" followed by an entry for "Pinocchio". Pronunciation - some entries include a pronunciation guide, which is great. But they made it difficult to understand that pronunciation by using their own confusing way of writing it, so you have to check the key to see what it means. For example, "o" in the guide should be pronounced like the letter "o" in "pot", while "oh" - like the letter "o" in "go". Now tell me if that's "easily understood" - not at all, everywhere else "h" is used to mark short vowels, not long ones! And how do you know when you actually have to pronounce the sound "h" as in "hat"! (OK, that's easily understood, but it annoys me anyway). The binding is bad as well - books this big should be stitched, but this one isn't, so the pages separate from the book as I read. In conclusion - the explanations in this dictionary are OK, but they should have been organized better according to topics and subtopics and sorted in chronological order where appropriate. Appendices with lists of entries on specific topics would have been helpful as well.

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