Zen and the Art of Navigating College: An Inquiry into the True Nature of Education and the Power of Self-Discovery
by Peter Klein

So many books have been written about the college experience that one might wonder at the need for yet another, but Zen and the Art of Navigating College: An Inquiry into the True Nature of Education and the Power of Self-Discovery is as much an art form as it is a guide to higher education, and deserves acclaim for its unusual approach as well as its many insights.

The foundation of this survey lies in its teachings on how to look beyond typical and ordinary perceptions and pursuits of higher education to consider the hidden hazards and opportunities of navigating a foreign realm like college.

This bigger picture involves learning how to strategize, network, and self-promote, showing students how to consider others and present their abilities and potential in a revised light.

Peter Klein’s focus on maximizing the outcome and potential of college expands his subject beyond the usual ‘how to’ realm and into areas of fostering achievement, discovery, and a life approach that will carry new adults through and past their college years with routines that apply equally well to life.

Readers may be surprised to learn that Zen and the Art of Navigating College isn’t a catch-all promotion for higher learning. Klein points out that major problems are inherent in the pursuit of something different. He points out the signs of these portending obstacles, as well as strategies for either avoiding or learning from them.

These obstacles are typically not reviewed in books for the college-bound such as this, but they are ever-present, and are one of the many ways a college education can unwittingly go awry: “Another danger to be aware of is that higher education is often laced with indoctrination. Some indoctrination is supplied under the approval of the institution, while other forms of indoctrination are propagated by fellow students and others affiliated with the university, though what they are offering may not be sanctioned by the college.”

Armed with special knowledge of the opportunities and dangers of such pursuits, readers of all ages will find Zen and the Art of Navigating College covers not just educational quandaries, but social, political, psychological, and spiritual tests inherent in the college milieu, yet rarely presented to students as other areas to be aware of.

The result is a different kind of college educational overview that should be a graduation present to any college-bound student who would take these lessons and run with them into life. Libraries seeking materials that lend especially well to college-bound book discussion groups should make Zen and the Art of Navigating College a mainstay.