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The Art of Conversation by Catherine Blyth

The Art of Conversation by Catherine Blyth

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A wide-ranging, exhortatory look at the pleasures of great conversation, including strategies for how to bring it about, from the witty pen of an Englishwoman wise in its ways

In The Art of Conversation, Catherine Blyth eloquently points out the sorry state of disrepair that conversation has fallen into—and then, taking examples from history, literature, philosophy, anthropology, and popular culture, she gives us the tools to rebuild. Her prose embodies the conversational values she promotes: It’s smart, succinct, self-deprecating, and light on its feet.

The Art of Conversation isn’t about etiquette, elocution, or knowing how to hold your teacup with your little finger crooked just so. It’s about something simple and profound: connecting. In our distracted days, it’s easy to forget that each of us possesses a communication technology that has been in research and development for thousands of years. Conversation costs nothing, but can bring you the world.

Blyth offers us a chance to revel in the possibilities of conversation. As Alexander Pope nearly wrote, “True ease in talking comes from art, not chance, as those move easiest who have learned to dance.” Okay, Pope was actually talking about writing, but Catherine Blyth has that skill as well. When you have read The Art of Conversation, you’ll not only know the steps, but hear the music like never before.

What is Seduction?

Seduction is the process of deliberately enticing a person, to engage in a relationship, to lead astray, as from duty, rectitude, or the like; to corrupt, to persuade or induce into engaging in sexual behaviour. Strategies of seduction include conversation and sexual scripts, paralingual features, non-verbal communication, and short-term behavioural strategies. The word seduction stems from Latin and means literally “leading astray.”As a result, the term may have a positive or negative connotation. Famous seducers from history or legend include Lilith, Giacomo Casanova, and the fictional character Don Juan. The emergence of the Internet and technology has supported the availability and the existence of a seduction community, which is based on discourse about seduction. This is predominately by “pickup artists” (PUA). Seduction is also used within marketing to increase compliance and willingness.

Seduction, seen negatively, involves temptation and enticement, often sexual in nature, to lead someone astray into a behavioural choice they would not have made if they were not in a state of sexual arousal. Seen positively, seduction is a synonym for the act of charming someone—male or female—by an appeal to the senses, often with the goal of reducing unfounded fears and leading to their “sexual emancipation.” Some sides in contemporary academic debate state that the morality of seduction depends on the long-term impacts on the individuals concerned, rather than the act itself, and may not necessarily carry the negative connotations expressed in dictionary definitions.

Salepage : The Art of Conversation by Catherine Blyth

About Author

Catherine Blyth

I wrote On Time out of frustration. I wanted to know why time has sped up, why there never seems to be enough, and how to make it mine again.
I was always rushing, yet at the end of the day my to-do list always seemed to be longer. Looking around, I saw that my problem was not unique to me. Everybody complained about their busyness. Or was proud of being time poor. It struck me that thanks to technology and our changing culture, the architecture of time in our lives is being dismantled. The steady and the regular is being replaced by the instant and the unpredictable. But although our relationship with time has changed absolutely, we have not fully appreciated the implications of our new situation, or inherited the tools to deal with it. I wanted to understand how time really works, and how to stop chasing the clock.

I grew up in Northamptonshire, and studied languages with the idea that one day I’d run away and be able to talk to anyone, anywhere. But I liked reading novels too much and settled for studying English, then moved to London. I live near the human souk that is the Portobello Road with my husband, who is a journalist, and our daughter and son.

I have worked as a gossip columnist (which taught me that enjoyable conversation and scoops don’t mix), interviewer (and discovered that even the god of mirth Eddie Izzard isn’t funny at 6 a.m., New York time), and briefly as a publicist in contemporary arts (my ardour died the day I watched Naked Russian poets waggle their bits at Big Ben). I moved into publishing, then writing full-time.

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