The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure

Book review by Deane Barker tags: interpersonal, psychology
An image of the cover of the book "The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure"

I shouldn’t have finished this. The author’s writing style bugged me.

I did like how the book is organized – a chapter for each different aspect of conversation, each with a set of “Rules” – but she kills the momentum with her writing. She’ll never use a simple word where a complex one will do, and she goes overboard on a flowery, literary style.

This book could have been straightforward, to-the-point, and helpful. Instead, it seemed to be an exercise in how much the author could impress herself with obscure anecdotes and pretentious language.

Book Data

Author
Catherine Blyth
Year
Pages
289
Acquired
Not recorded
Open Library
OL13750819W