The Concise Guide to Sounding Smart at Parties
An Irreverent Compendium of Must-Know Info from Sputnik to Smallpox and Marie Curie to Mao
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Banish awkward silences, boring weather talk, or (worst of all) the embarrassing conversation gaff with this pithy, hilarious guide to effortless party banter.
We’ve all been there. You’re at a party, surrounded by the most important people in your life. You’re cool. You’re casual. You’re witty and urbane. Until suddenly, quite unexpectedly, things take a turn for the worse when a subject thought to be common knowledge is lobbed your way. A hush falls over the room and every head seems to swivel expectantly in your direction.
[ART: SET THESE OFF IN A DIFFERENT COLOR?]
“Rasputin. Sure, Rasputin. The Russian guy, right? Who . . . who . . . whooooo was Russian.”
“Che Guevara? You mean the dancer?”
“Oh my God! Mao Tse-tung? They have the best chicken with cashews!”
The Concise Guide to Sounding Smart at Parties was written with just this moment in mind. In fourteen pain-free, laughter-filled chapters, authors David Matalon and Chris Woolsey brush away years of cobwebs on subjects as wide-ranging as the typical round of Jeopardy: war, science, politics, philosophy, the arts, business, literature, music, religion, and more.
Armed with The Concise Guide to Sounding Smart at Parties, you’ll know that Chicago Seven wasn’t a boy band, Martin Luther never fought for civil rights, and Franz Kafka isn’t German for “I have a bad cold.” You’ll be the smart one who’s the center of conversation—and nothing beats that feeling.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This breezy compilation of trivia on a myriad of subjects does just what the title promises: enable the reader to offer authoritative (or at least informed) commentary in social settings. Matalon and Woolsey group by subjects ranging from sports and science to war, religion and even music, and cover everything from Three Mile Island to Columbian cocaine magnate Pablo Escobar. Each subject gets a page or two of exposition, as well as pithy bon mots to throw out in order to bring up the topic, i.e "Their prices are so high only Sir Edmund Hillary shops there." The snarky humor makes for entertaining reading in small doses, though the stream of wisecracks and asides can wear thin on lengthier perusal. Still, the research is impressive and bound to give cocktail conversationalists more than enough intellectual ammunition for a lifetime of parties.
