Dumbth: And 81 Ways to Make Americans Smarter

Steve Allen. Prometheus Books, $17.95 (359pp) ISBN 978-0-87975-650-5

Allen coins the word ``dumbth'' to describe contemporary Americans' common ignorance in significant categories of knowledge, cites examples of this phenomenon and recommends the teaching of reasoning in early school years. ``Tempering missionary zeal with humor and humaneness, Allen addresses a sorry condition and, better yet, suggests solutions,'' said PW. (June)

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