The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure Hardcover - 2008

by Catherine Blyth

A wide-ranging, exhortatory look at the pleasures ofgreat conversation, including strategies for how to bring it about,from the witty pen of an Englishwoman wise in its ways

In The Art of Conversation, Catherine Blyth eloquently pointsout the sorry state of disrepair that conversation has falleninto and then, taking examples from history, literature, philosophy,anthropology, and popular culture, she gives us thetools to rebuild. Her prose embodies the conversational valuesshe promotes: It's smart, succinct, self-deprecating, and lighton its feet.

The Art of Conversation isn't about etiquette, elocution,or knowing how to hold your teacup with your little fingercrooked just so. It's about something simple and profound:connecting. In our distracted days, it's easy to forget that eachof us possesses a communication technology that has been inresearch and development for thousands of years. Conversationcosts nothing, but can bring you the world.

Blyth offers us a chance to revel in the possibilities of conversation.As Alexander Pope nearly wrote, 'True ease in talkingcomes from art, not chance, as those move easiest who havelearned to dance.' Okay, Pope was actually talking about writing,but Catherine Blyth has that skill as well. When you haveread The Art of Conversation, you'll not only know the steps,but hear the music like never before.