The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour to a Neglected Pleasure by Catherine Blyth

This book has very little new to say about talking, but it is the kind of book that makes one feel clever and witty and therefore is an excellent start to beginning good conversations. The author has many pithy quotations about the subject, and while most the book is centered around a Western, primarily British, viewpoint on the subject, there were a surprising number of references to specific countries, mainly Japan.

kung_fu_monkey if there is a good book (in English) about Japanese conversational/communication styles I would be very interested in reading it. (Or anyone else who knows, I know there are many Japanophiles out there, but only one of them is currently in Japan. ::waves at monkey::)

( About the book. )

( On conversational topics, more specifically, on the problem of conversation in an age of technological illiteracy )

Note: Blyth did not provide notes, but there is a bibliography. The passage is from Arendt's infamous The Human Condition. The bibliography for this book is fantastic. It would make for an excellent reading list on the topic for the next year.

Also: mrissa has a lovely unofficial poll about favorite false scientific theories:

http://mrissa.livejournal.com/663857.html?view=11897905#t11897905

The comments are amusing. If you have a favorite, go comment, currently it looks like phlogiston is winning.