A fairly lucid attempt at charting the twists and turns of everyday conversation for those who haven't mastered the art. Alan Garner (Interpersonal Communications, Santa Aha College) directs a workshop network in the subject, so he knows enough to include both simple and complex exchanges. Topics range from getting a conversation started via open-ended questions (rather than those that promote one-line answers), to discouraging the persistent manipulator by repeating your reason for saying "no" over and over again (the "broken record" technique). Readers are encouraged to be as positive as possible, wherever possible (in some cases we can even help another person accept our genuine compliments graciously). The communications-course staples are included—"active listening" by paraphrasing the other person's statement, the rudiments of body language—but the chief attraction is the step-by-step guidance for those who truly have trouble initiating or sustaining a conversation, issuing invitations, and the like. A handy little primer for the terminally tongue-tied.
Pub Date: Oct. 18, 1981
ISBN: 1565656296
Page Count: 230
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1981
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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