A Good Talk: The Story and Skill of Conversation

by Daniel Menaker

Book Overview

A stylish, funny and surprising guide to the art of conversation, from one of New York's foremost literary wits.
A GOOD TALK is an analysis of and guide to that most exclusively human of all activities-- conversation.

Drawing on over forty years of experience in American letters, Menaker pinpoints the factors that drive and enliven every good conversation: the vagaries (and joys) of subtext; the deeper structure...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446540013
• ISBN13: 9780446540018
• Release Date: January 2011
• Publisher: Twelve
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

A witty discourse on conversation

A GOOD TALK: THE STORY AND SKILL OF CONVERSATION offers a witty discourse on conversation, telling how it's in decline and providing funny but pointed prose on how it may be revived. Tips on how to make conversation meaningful discusses the origins of language, social talk, and offers a hilarious take on first encounters and exchanges, pinpointing conversations to four stages and addressing underlying concerns.

Funny, engaging, and genuinely helpful

I ordered this book after hearing Dan Menaker on NPR and found it as entertaining and informative as his interview. Menaker offers a witty tour of the role of conversation, solid advice on navigating familiar pitfalls,even tips on cyberchats. He's a genuinely funny raconteur and I found myself alternately laughing out loud and reading choice passages aloud to my husband. (Don't miss the hilarious backfire of the Nixon/Checkers story.) I'm now armed with lots of fascinating stories for my next conversation. An absolute pleasure from cover to cover.

Fascinating, Funny and Useful

This book is fascinating, funny and full of useful material. I loved the author's (surprising) criteria for what makes for a good conversation and his list of questions to to jump start a dull one. A book to read once and then dip back into periodically for tune ups.

A Most Engaging Book

Engaging both in the usual sense of charming and attractive, but also in the less common sense of making you feel you are face-to-face with a real person, one with whom you can argue, disagree and sometimes -- not often, but sometimes -- refute. Ben Sonnenberg

Conversations Can Build A Better Tomorrow

The book itself it witty and engaging. I found myself not wanting to put the book down as I was drawn into the history and discourse of talking. It may sound dull, but believe me it isn't. Each chapter has conversations that are great examples of the topic that he is trying to cover which truly allows the reader to understand the concepts at a much deeper level. As I work in a profession that requires a lot of talking, this book was rather relevant. I run into people daily who have a lack of skill when it comes to conversing with others. I even find at times that conversation does not always come naturally, thus this book was a great find and a great read, as it makes you look at conversing with others in a different light and allows you to work step by step to build yourself into a better conversationalist as well as becomming a better person in society.