The Art of Conversation: How Talking Improves Lives - Softcover

Blyth, Catherine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184854166X ISBN 13: 9781848541665

Publisher: John Murray, 2009

Synopsis

Every day we use our mobiles and computers to communicate, but ironically we are losing touch with face-to-face talk. Catherine Blyth reveals the endless possibilities of conversation and shows that when it works it can come close to heaven.

With examples from Elizabeth I to Tommy Cooper, courtesans to nomads, The Art of Conversation is full of tips on listening, the perfect handshake, talking shop and surviving conversational bores. Be it sharing a joke with a stranger, sparking a new idea or just letting off steam with a friend, there are infinite adventures to be had if you break the ice and say hello . . .

About this title

Review:

It is a treasure trove of literary and historical delights, with each page containing a little gem in the form of a quotation or a factoid (Independent on Sunday)

'Witty, charming and appropriately garrulous . . . it shamed me into wanting to
mend my own, lumpen, non-conversational ways and pull my speech-related
socks up...this smart little book should be in every house like Gideon
bibles in hotel rooms'

(Mail on Sunday)

A bit of fun by a young genius. The Art of Conversation . . . is a witty meditation upon
all aspects of talk . . . if you give to a friend it will itself provoke hours of amusing chat as you read out her jokes and her wisdom

(A.N. Wilson)

'Blending science with psychology and philosophy with literature, she argues the case for banter and badinage. It's free, fun and gets your brain cells firing like the prettiest of firework displays' (Marie Claire)

'I tried my hardest to dislike The Art of Conversation, but it's hard to dislike anything that quotes Chanelle from Big Brother in the same breath as Andrew Marvell and Henry James' (Guardian)

'Everybody will read it, but pretend they haven't' (Observer)

'As Woodrow Wilson once opined of the US President Warren Harding, I am simply in possession of 'a bungalow mind'. I hope that reading The Art of Conversation has furnished me with a staircase or two' (Observer)

'A witty, entertaining guide, much praised' (Bookseller)

'Modern man - and woman - have forgotten how to engage larynx and ears. Catherine Blyth teaches the lost art with wit and charm' (Harry Mount, author of AMO, AMAS, AMAT . . . AND ALL THAT)

'Brings a professional sensibility to the topic' (Scotland on Sunday)

Book Description:

Ever wanted to be the most interesting person in the room? Let Catherine Blyth take you on an entertaining tour of the neglected art of conversation. You'll never think of talk as cheap ever again . . .

About this edition

• Publisher: John Murray
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 184854166X
• ISBN 13: 9781848541665
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304