You are bidding on:

• A TutorText: The Elements of Bridge, by Charles H. Goren (420 pp, hardcover; Doubleday & Company, Garden City, NY, 1960).

This listing may stir up some nostalgia among my contemporaries. Remember the fad for "programmed learning," back in the '60s and early '70s? Basically, books designed for programmed learning would offer bits of information, followed by a multiple-choice quiz question. Depending on which answer you chose, you'd be directed to an appropriate page that either confirmed your correct guess, or explained why your choice was incorrect, and directed you back to choose another answer.

Doubleday's series of "TutorTexts," prepared under the direction of the Educational Science Division of U.S. Industries, brought the "programmed learning" approach to serious as well as more popular subjects. I remember seeing a TutorText on Chess, back during the Bobby Fischer craze; I also remember owning one about math, perhaps algebra (which I always enjoyed, though other people didn't). This one addresses the basic elements of Contract Bridge, no longer as popular a card game as during its heyday in the '50s and '60s, but still enjoyed by legions of devoted fans, probably as much for its social aspects (it's a two-team partner game) as much as for its potential intricacies of bidding and play of the hand.

Like other TutorTexts, this one is organized so that each multiple-choice answer directs you to a different page -- no cheating here! Whether your original answer is right or wrong, you'll learn something from the explanation -- and you'll gain in confidence as you learn. It doesn't hurt that the author of the book, Charles H. Goren, was a respected Bridge authority, with numerous books and newspaper articles on the subject to his credit.

This book is in surprisingly good condition, especially for its age (though this particular copy doesn't actually look like it was printed in 1960 -- that's the copyright date, which I'm supplying in lieu of other or better information). The pages are unmarked and undamaged -- I suspect that the book's previous owner used it as little as I did! There is no dust jacket, however, which may dilute the book's value as a "collectible."

I accept money orders, cashier's cheques, or personal cheques (which I hold for clearance); PayPal on non-U.S. orders only. Winning U.S. bidder adds $3.25 for Media Mail shipping with Delivery Confirmation; winning bidder elsewhere pays actual shipping costs.