Tag: conversation

Good Conversation and the Talking Cure: A Review

One cannot really have a book about conversation alone. Conversation is so much a fruit of individual persons and their relationship to one another, that a book about that fruit must be one about how to become a deeper, better, more complex and interesting person.

Practicing Authentic Conversation

If I attempt to follow Berry’s underwater route too closely, I’m afraid I will drown. Rather than try to summarize it, then, I will instead distill from it a set of guidelines for improving the quality of our language. The shouters who dominate our public discourse are unlikely to heed Berry’s advice, but those of us who are weary of shrill denunciations have much to learn from Berry’s sanity.

The Stories We Share

Douthat is, I think, proposing a conversation. As a low-level functionary in the medical-industrial complex, I would like to take him up on that offer. There may be much to learn from sharing our stories. Whether others will join us is more than I can promise.

On Talking About the Weather

Nashville, TN. “If you cannot think of anything appropriate to say, you will please restrict your remarks to the weather.” So says Mrs. Dashwood...

Books and the Hungry Soul

Beautifully and substantially-made books suggest something that deserve to be pored over at length, just as one lingers with friends after a wonderful meal.

Who Was Richard Blaine? Myth, History, and the Great American...

Moorpark, CA.  The first time is not always the best, but it is often the most revealing.  The first time I saw Casablanca I...