A Good Talk

November 16, 2009
A fiction writer and former editor at the New Yorker
and Random House, Menaker (The Treatment
) regards conversation as “a human art of great importance produced by all people everywhere.” His witty approach is evident almost immediately, as he speculates on the creation of human language, moving on to the general rules of conversation, London coffeehouses as a forum for ideas, greetings, and name-droppers: “They wrap the pig of name-dropping in a blanket of casualness, or even criticalness, and seem to actually believe you won't taste the inner wiener.” At the book's core is a conversation between Menaker and an anonymous female writer. Taped in a Brooklyn restaurant, this lengthy transcript is analyzed in detail to show how the participants take risks, seek a “common ground,” interject humor, and discover perceptive insights about each other. Interview tactics and prepared remarks are covered, along with e-mail embarrassments, dating stratagems, sarcastic barbs, compliments, and interruptions. However, what makes a lasting impression is the parade of anecdotes about life in the corridors of the New Yorker
and Random House, leaving the reader yearning for a full-scale Menaker memoir.

October 15, 2009
A former book editor and New Yorker staffer weighs in on the history, strategies and significance of conversation,"a human art of great importance produced by all people everywhere."

Menaker (The Treatment, 1998, etc.), has a busy agenda: to sketch the history of human spoken intercourse, which"had to begin with grunts"; summarize some key theories about the nature of talk; analyze an edited, though lengthy, version of a recording of an actual conversation he shared with a colleague (she knew the recorder was running); examine conversation-starters and -stoppers; and offer some Dr. Philian how-to-do-it banalities. Menaker's wit is evident throughout, and the tone is generally amiable, even avuncular—and yes, conversational. He employs self-deprecation appealingly, and his allusions leap around unpredictably, visiting both high and low culture along the way. Accordingly, the author glances at Beethoven, Randy Travis, Aristotle, William Shawn, Buddy Holly, Grendel, Linda Blair, Gary Cooper and Max von Sydow, among dozens of others. Menaker has little ill to say of anyone, though he takes a poke at Alan Cheuse and at some unnamed people who once said something inappropriate in conversation with him. Of greatest interest are some early comments about the evolution of conversation and some observations at the end about oxytocin, the"cuddle hormone" that apparently bubbles away nicely during and after a good chat. Less appealing are the author's self-help prescriptions—lists of dos and don'ts and anecdotes about people who did X and Y ensued. Some of the sections seem more fitting for an in-flight magazine than for a serious discussion of…discussion.

A thin broth containing a few chunky morsels.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

November 15, 2009
A 26-year veteran of "The New Yorker", Menaker here probes the origin and subtexts of everyday human interactions, exploring how conversations take shape and progress. At their best, they're a form of art, but conversation is not always smooth and charming. For people who often find their way into conversational pitfalls, Menaker packs an entire chapter full of advice. He differentiates between conversation that's aimless and purposeless and, among other topics, takes aim at name-droppers. In the hands of a less-skilled writer, this topic could have drowned in textbook-style overanalysis, but Menaker's book is filled with ample doses of humor and should be especially welcomed by wordsmiths and conversationalists.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2010
A New Yorker editor for 26 years, Menaker views conversation as artifact, tracing its prehistoric beginnings with glottological theories on physical changes in the hominid larynx and mutation of the FoxP2 gene, which helped develop brain areas conducive to language, all before hominids left Africa. He posits that conversation developed as a hands-free substitute for socially interactive grooming, as with chimps, and, moving forward, considers conversation as aimless: not without aim, but without purpose, something that Americans, more than other modern societies, have been traditionally critical of. Within the context of the persistent legacy of Puritan sobriety and pioneer pragmatism favoring those who talk little and accomplish much, he seamlessly entwines his own wryly humorous observations, dialogue from Jonathon Swift and Fred and Ginger, discussion of the chi energy of conversation, and FAQ: Frequently Arising Quandries. These last include Insults (subdivided into Inadvertent Affronts and Deliberate, Frontal Attack), Prepared Remarks, and Dating, which includes observations by Samuel Johnson plus notes on seduction and courtship. A charming, useful, and entertaining approach to a fascinating topic.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)