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Description for Conversation
hardcover. Taking an historical and philosophical view of the subject of conversation, the author reveals why good conversation matters, and why it is in decline. He cites that technology, insistence on unguarded forthrightness, and the fear of being judgemental as powerful forces that diminish the art of conversation. Num Pages: 368 pages. BIC Classification: GTC; JFC; JMH. Category: (G) General (US: Trade); (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 216 x 140 x 29. Weight in Grams: 520. Good clean copy with minor age & shelf wear. Lightly toned, remains very good
Essayist Stephen Miller pursues a lifelong interest in conversation by taking an historical and philosophical view of the subject. He chronicles the art of conversation in Western civilization from its beginnings in ancient Greece to its apex in eighteenth-century Britain to its current endangered state in America. As Harry G. Frankfurt brought wide attention to the art of verbiage in his recent bestselling "On Bullshit", so Miller now brings the art of conversation into the light, revealing why good conversation matters and why it is in decline. Miller explores the conversation about conversation among such great writers as Cicero, Montaigne, Swift, Defoe, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and Virginia Woolf. He focuses on the world of British coffeehouses and clubs in 'The Age of Conversation', and examines how this era ended. Turning his attention to the United States, the author traces a prolonged decline in the theory and practice of conversation from Benjamin Franklin through Hemingway to Dick Cheney. He cites our technology (iPods, cell phones, and video games) and our insistence on unguarded forthrightness as well as our fear of being judgemental as powerful forces that are likely to diminish the art of conversation.
Product Details
Format
Hardback
Publication date
2006
Publisher
Yale University Press
Condition
Used, Very Good
Number of Pages
368
Place of Publication
, United States
ISBN
9780300110302
SKU
KSG0039731
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 2 to 4 working days
Ref
99-1
About Stephen Miller
Stephen Miller is a freelance writer and a contributing editor to The Wilson Quarterly. His essays on leading eighteenth-century writers have appeared in many magazines, including the Times Literary Supplement, Partisan Review, and Sewanee Review.
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