Now you can join the millions of people of all ages who have reaped the rewards of the famous Evelyn Wood Speed Reading and Learning Program. All the secrets of this amazing system are now available to you in this book. Find out how you can:

• Read 50% faster in only an hour
• Double your reading speed in a week
• Soar beyond -- to read an amazing 1,200 to 3,000 words per minute -- and remember everything you read!

DISCOVER THE SPEED-READING PATH TO POWER AND SUCCESS

In just a few lessons, the proven techniques of this dynamic learning system will unlock the natural power of your mind, opening the door to new realms of intellectual power and potential success.

THERE'S NO LIMIT TO WHAT YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH!

Average Customer Review: ( 61 customer reviews )
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While I found many things to like that will help you with your reading, I also found many things that I did not like. Graded just on that basis, I would give the book two or three stars.

At the same time, someone with average reading speed and comprehension can probably improve speed and comprehension if the book's advice is followed and practiced daily. Graded just on that basis, I would give the book four stars.

Getting better with reading, note taking, writing, and test taking is all about understanding what needs to be done, implementing those approaches, getting feedback, and practicing a lot. Someone in middle school or high school is in a perfect position to do all of those things. Beginning with college, it becomes harder. Graduate school often causes skill levels to decline in these areas. Those who are working and not taking courses will find that they may not have the disciplined environment needed to improve.

First, let me clear up some misconceptions. Reading faster is not "skimming" in which you skip most of the material looking for the high points. Reading faster is about reading all of the words, but by using better techniques. Also, I do not believe that there is only one way to read faster. I use several techniques for different kinds of material, several of which are not mentioned in this book. This book argues for lots of repetition in reading, writing, and studying. That repetition can be avoided by using methods other than those described in this book. Finally, I think that you will learn more by taking a reading course that is offered daily than by just reading a book about reading. In such a course, you will develop your own methods that feel right for you.

This book is absolutely correct in identifying the major reasons why most people read and comprehend slowly:

(1) mentally "vocalizing each word" slows down the reading process -- just "see" and react to the word instead (when you look at a butterfly, you can appreciate its beauty and identity without saying "butterfly" to yourself . . . so why is a word any different?)

(2) losing concentration and starting to daydream, rather than reading on

(3) losing one's place and having to find the place and then rereading material

(4) not understanding the vocabulary

(5) not having a structured set of questions for bringing reading attention to bear (What is the structure of this book? Where are its arguments valid? Where are they not? What is the evidence? Who can best use this book? And so forth.).

If you work on those five areas, I agree with the author that the average person can easily double reading speed while increasing comprehension.

To get to be really fast, you have to be able to take in and absorb more words with each eye movement. Distance from the words, angle of the reading material, light, corrective power of your glasses or contact lenses, the back support of your chair, and the emotional comfort of your environment all play a role. Here is where I disagree with the book. It argues for using lots of finger movements. In my experience, those finger movements are just a distraction. If they help you, great! But if they don't, relax! I doubt if anyone is going to learn those finger movements, however, without taking an Evelyn Wood course.

The author argues that material with dialogue in it cannot be read rapidly. That is not my experience. He argues the same for poetry. That is also not my experience. Where I do find that you have to slow down is where the material requires lots of thinking to be appreciated. Even there, most of us can think at 50,000 words a minute. Not too many people try to read faster than that. It's hard to turn the pages that fast!

The book doesn't have enough direction on how to reach and drill yourself. A better approach would have been to have put this book into a workbook format that would provide very simple self-guided lessons.

So, should you buy the book, or just absorb the lessons from this review? I suspect that many people can learn all they can use from the book by just reading this review. On the other hand, the book is inexpensive so you don't have much to lose if you buy it.

The book also contains lots of material about conceptual note-taking, faster writing processes, test preparation, and test-taking. I thought that this material was overly rigid. Most people will do better to adopt a style that fits the way they think and like to work.

After you finish reading this review, please do consider that improving your reading speed and comprehension is very valuable. You can either spend less time gathering material, or learn more. In either case, your life should be improved.

Enjoy your reading more!

196 of 205 found the following review helpful:

Hello my name is Mr. StephensMar 03, 2000
By Ahren Jolon Stephens
Hello, I am a 17 year old young man. I have searched and searched for a speed reading book that could help me not only in school, but also in the real world. I have always wanted to read huge books in two hours and so forth. What I would like to say is that for a week, this book is good. Go check it out at the library, don't buy it on Amazon. I have looked at a lot of speed reading material. I have Howard Bergs biggest bag of garbage Super Speed Reading. I didn't get anything out of that. I have Speed Reading made easy which is pretty out dated. And I have the book that I highly recommend, Breakthrough Speed Reading by Peter Kump. That is the book to get folks. If you are truly serious about learning how to go through pages of War and Peace, or the Bible or whatever you read. It has drills that help you FOR MORE THAN ONE WEEK! The only reason I think this book has sold so much is because people want a quick fix, but I can tell you personally that if you want to read fast, and complete novels in one sitting (less than an hour) and actually get motivated with what you are do GET BREAKTHROUGH SPEED READING BY PETER KUMP FROM AMAZON INSTEAD OF THIS REALLY ELEMENTARY EVELYN WOOD 7 DAY THING. I was disappointed when I got Breakthrough because it was the book I wished I would have gotten first!

44 of 47 found the following review helpful:

An effective speed reading course for the persistentJun 12, 1998

This still has to be one of the best offerings available on this subject. For the persistently faithful this is the book I would recommend, it has all the exercises in step by step form to set you firmly on your way to accomplishing an effectively fast rate of reading with a good level of comprehension.

I would definitely recommend this book to parents of highschoolers or students of any age as this book also outlines some very essential and excellent methods of note taking to help you prepare for and ace exams. I've managed to increase my own reading speed from 630 wpm to over 1400wpm in only the first 4weeks of trying out this system,but and I stress the following, in order to succeed with speed reading you must maintain a high degree of persistence in doing the given exercises for at least 1 month, don't question the reasons for or effectiveness of the exercises until you've gone through all the methods given in the book faithfully - if you don't feel you have the determination or persistence to reach your ultimate goal then like all else you'll try - it probably won't work for you. However this method really does work! so what are you waiting for....buy it now!

39 of 42 found the following review helpful:

Not Bad, Especially for the Price!Jun 24, 2000
By John Noodles
Judging by the success stories in all these speed reading books I've been going over, there sure are a lot of 800+wpm readers out there (among whom I DO NOT rank!). This book makes similar fantastic claims...you can read up to 3,000 wpm, etc.

One thing this book is pretty emphatic about, though, is that this kind of speed takes WORK, and regular "workouts." In other words, you have keep at it, or you lose the ability.

The book doesn't focus on speed reading. Rather, it presents a whole learning system, of which speed reading is a part. I bought it primarily because it was cheap, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that there is some pretty sound study-skills instruction here.

This is very much another accelerated learning book, without explicitly being touted as one. Kaplan's main reading strategy is "Layered Reading," which, if you've read other books in this field, you'll recognize. You begin by previewing (headings, bold print, etc.), then do a fast "read" through, at 2-4 seconds a page, to get a little more information, then do it again at a slightly slower speed, then, back to the beginning, and read through at your comfortable reading speed. Then you review.

How can this possibly be "accelerated"? Because when you read, you read at 1500 words per minute. If you can, that is! The key to speedy learning with this system--as, arguably, with all these accelerated learning systems--is being able to read fast. Very fast.

This book's sub-900 wpm reading tactic involves learning to read chunks of a page at once...you mentally divide the page down the middle, and then horizontally 5 times or so. Kaplan says that with practice you will be able to comprehend meaning from words within sentence read out of order. Maybe...for me, it has worked only on VERY easy texts, and then my comprehension was hardly outstanding. I certainly wouldn't pleasure read like this. To be honest, though, I haven't practiced this technique all that much.

Is it really possible to read at 3000 wpm? I don't know. I haven't met anyone who does. Kaplan says that within a month, though, you should be able to read at least 1,500 wpm...I've been practicing speed reading for a couple months, and I'm sure as hell nowhere near that range yet. And I read a lot.

Still, this is not a bad book. I think it will be especially useful to younger students...serious high school and junior high students, for instance. It is straightforward, and easy to read. Kaplan cuts right to the chase, without wasting time exploring "mind science," as so many accelerated learning books do. Success will not come without a lot of work, though.

25 of 28 found the following review helpful:

InfomercialAug 04, 2004
By Dalia Tubis
This book reads like an infomercial. There is very limited practical advice, but plenty of long descriptive stories about people who have benefited from the live course taught using the method described in the book. General principles are stated--such as Don't Pronounce Words, but we are not really told how to go from sounding words to simply seeing them.

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