When Strangers Meet: How People You Don't Know Can Transform You

By Kio Stark

Book Overview

Discover the unexpected pleasures and exciting possibilities of talking to people you don't know--how these beautiful interruptions can change you, and the world we share. When Strangers Meet argues for the pleasures and transformative possibilities of talking to people you don't know. Our lives are increasingly insular. We are in a hurry, our heads are down, minds elsewhere, we hear only the voices we already recognize and rarely take the effort to experience something or someone new. Talking to strangers pulls you into experiences of shared humanity and creates genuine emotional connections. It opens your world. Passing interactions cement your relationship to the places you live and work and play, they're beautiful interruptions in the steady routines of our lives. In luminous prose, Stark shows how talking to strangers wakes you up. Threaded throughout are powerful vignettes from Stark's own lifelong practice of talking to strangers and documenting brief encounters, along with a deep exploration of the dynamics of where, how, and why strangers come together. Ultimately, When Strangers Meet explores the rich emotional and political meanings that are conjured up in even the briefest conversations and unexpected connections with strangers. Stark renders visible the hidden processes by which we decide who to greet and trust in passing, and the unwritten rules by which these encounters operate. When Strangers Meet teaches readers how to start talking to strangers and includes adventurous challenges for those who dare.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1501119982
• ISBN13: 9781501119989
• Release Date: September 2016
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster/ Ted
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.1" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

Just read this book

I loved It! I enjoy those random moments of connection between strangers, and yet realize how easy it is for them to be awkward. This book takes a good look at what talking to strangers can do for you, why to do it, and how. I highly reccommend.