You Talkin' To Me?: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama
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Review
'You finish this book more than ready to rock a first in rhetoric' --Hermione Eyre, Evening Standard
'Funny and clever about Homer and Hello! magazine by turns' --Charlotte Higgins, Guardian
'Read this entertaining and instructive book and you will never again mistake an occultatio for an occupatio' --Ian Finlayson, Times
'Witty and revealing' --James McConnachie, Sunday Times
'Engaging' --Ian Birrell, Observer
'Erudite loopiness of the highest order ... sure to enlighten' --George Pendle, FT
'entertaining ... winning humour and charm' --Metro Non-Fiction Book of the Week
'A sprightly, erudite and often very funny book ... I relished every page of it' --Christopher Hart, Literary Review
'Elegant, concise and frequently very funny' --John Preston, Spectator
'highly entertaining ... written with such charm and persuasion ... if you like words and enjoy language you will love this book' --Avanti! Magazine
'Throughout this dizzyingly paced and often wildly hilarious book he brings alive his matchless career' --Stephen Fry
'If anyone wants to know how to be a radical within the establishment, read this book.' --Pete Townshend
'Passionate and furiously funny' --Dame Ann Leslie
'Andy Kershaw's memoir zooms along with the high-velocity recklessness of a TT racer.' --Francis Wheen
'He's always wired himself up to the action. A very entertaining book. Keep it goin', Andy!' --Ralph Steadman
'This is the best available analysis, by a sensitive literary critic, of what rhetoric is, and how it works' --Boris Johnson, Mail on Sunday
'Funny and clever about Homer and Hello! magazine by turns' --Charlotte Higgins, Guardian
'Read this entertaining and instructive book and you will never again mistake an occultatio for an occupatio' --Ian Finlayson, Times
'Witty and revealing' --James McConnachie, Sunday Times
'Engaging' --Ian Birrell, Observer
'Erudite loopiness of the highest order ... sure to enlighten' --George Pendle, FT
'entertaining ... winning humour and charm' --Metro Non-Fiction Book of the Week
'A sprightly, erudite and often very funny book ... I relished every page of it' --Christopher Hart, Literary Review
'Elegant, concise and frequently very funny' --John Preston, Spectator
'highly entertaining ... written with such charm and persuasion ... if you like words and enjoy language you will love this book' --Avanti! Magazine
'Throughout this dizzyingly paced and often wildly hilarious book he brings alive his matchless career' --Stephen Fry
'If anyone wants to know how to be a radical within the establishment, read this book.' --Pete Townshend
'Passionate and furiously funny' --Dame Ann Leslie
'Andy Kershaw's memoir zooms along with the high-velocity recklessness of a TT racer.' --Francis Wheen
'He's always wired himself up to the action. A very entertaining book. Keep it goin', Andy!' --Ralph Steadman
'This is the best available analysis, by a sensitive literary critic, of what rhetoric is, and how it works' --Boris Johnson, Mail on Sunday
Book Description
A witty, elegant enquiry into the art of persuasion
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
"You Talkin' to Me?" explores the history of rhetoric from the ancient Greeks, to the modern daya - right up to Obama.
The book shows how important rhetoric is to anyone - from our everyday workplace, to the way a salesman con(vince)s us to buy their product, through to the ways that politicians manipulate us - all through the use of rhetoric.
We meet the original Greek and Roman experts - Aristotle, Plato and Cicero - and then trawl through history - from Lincoln to Churchill.
The author laments that our schools no longer teach rhetoric - but provides an excellent course in the subject - explaining the various styles and rules of rhetoric.
Much is (as often) common sense - plan what you are going to say, practice it and deliver it - but this witty, amusing and intelligent book is a useful primer on this important technique.
The book shows how important rhetoric is to anyone - from our everyday workplace, to the way a salesman con(vince)s us to buy their product, through to the ways that politicians manipulate us - all through the use of rhetoric.
We meet the original Greek and Roman experts - Aristotle, Plato and Cicero - and then trawl through history - from Lincoln to Churchill.
The author laments that our schools no longer teach rhetoric - but provides an excellent course in the subject - explaining the various styles and rules of rhetoric.
Much is (as often) common sense - plan what you are going to say, practice it and deliver it - but this witty, amusing and intelligent book is a useful primer on this important technique.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Suppose I ask you what is a definition of a word. But to define it, you use the said word. Its perfectly natural, its a simple etymological mistake.
Mr Leith wants to talk to us about rhetoric. He does it with the voice of 1) infectious and humourous enthusiasm, 2) someone well versed in the subject. Rhetoric is defined as the art of persuasion. Mr Leith cannot help himself for the rest of the book to use rhetoric in helping to define rhetoric as we know it today. Its not the same level of etymological error as the above example but I wanted to point it out. Its a insider's joke he sets out himself: the very end of the introduction where he earlier gives the definition of rhetoric, he finishes with "let me persuade you"
I applaud him for it. He got me so worked up about rhetoric that I looked up all the terms on wikipedia and went away thinking "that was dull, complete and professional, but dull- the book was better"
The examples he gives us and the explanations and commentary that accompany them are more than proof of that. He starts off with dusty figures from Greece (which I found hard going) throws in some Champions of rhetoric (which includes the Devil, Abe Lincoln and Barack Obama, gee let's play odd man out). But along the way I learnt some deep things and more importantly I could relate to the concepts I had previously only associated with dead Greek philosophers and sophists. Logos, Pathos or Ethos anyone? This book does it in a paragraph and humourously so. To quote the Simpsons throughout the book is either a sign of populist outreach or genius.
This book also has had a disturbing side effect: previously a great speech was a moving one. But to go to the deepest molecular level of the persuasion with words, that was just intuitive. Now I know the magic, I wonder if I will be cynical about any great speech again.
The downfall is the subject matter itself. The golden definition of rhetoric took place in the dead and dusty reaches of history. I had to fight the association that I was reading about something dead and dusty. It is a fallacy easy to fall into.
Get this book if you are aspiring to give a speech, take part in debates, interested in the Greek classical tradition. The bonus is that you'll sound wiser- which is also a recognised part of rhetoric.
Mr Leith wants to talk to us about rhetoric. He does it with the voice of 1) infectious and humourous enthusiasm, 2) someone well versed in the subject. Rhetoric is defined as the art of persuasion. Mr Leith cannot help himself for the rest of the book to use rhetoric in helping to define rhetoric as we know it today. Its not the same level of etymological error as the above example but I wanted to point it out. Its a insider's joke he sets out himself: the very end of the introduction where he earlier gives the definition of rhetoric, he finishes with "let me persuade you"
I applaud him for it. He got me so worked up about rhetoric that I looked up all the terms on wikipedia and went away thinking "that was dull, complete and professional, but dull- the book was better"
The examples he gives us and the explanations and commentary that accompany them are more than proof of that. He starts off with dusty figures from Greece (which I found hard going) throws in some Champions of rhetoric (which includes the Devil, Abe Lincoln and Barack Obama, gee let's play odd man out). But along the way I learnt some deep things and more importantly I could relate to the concepts I had previously only associated with dead Greek philosophers and sophists. Logos, Pathos or Ethos anyone? This book does it in a paragraph and humourously so. To quote the Simpsons throughout the book is either a sign of populist outreach or genius.
This book also has had a disturbing side effect: previously a great speech was a moving one. But to go to the deepest molecular level of the persuasion with words, that was just intuitive. Now I know the magic, I wonder if I will be cynical about any great speech again.
The downfall is the subject matter itself. The golden definition of rhetoric took place in the dead and dusty reaches of history. I had to fight the association that I was reading about something dead and dusty. It is a fallacy easy to fall into.
Get this book if you are aspiring to give a speech, take part in debates, interested in the Greek classical tradition. The bonus is that you'll sound wiser- which is also a recognised part of rhetoric.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I think this book does for rhetoric what 'Eats Shoots and Leaves' does for grammar. It provides a highly readable and hilarious guide to the history and practice of rhetoric.
Everyone knows what a rhethorical question is, i.e. one that suggests its answer rather than demands it. The book shows that the subject is about a series of tricks in which arguments are made to persuade others to come to the point of view of the speaker. Of course, it is just a prevalent in writing.
The thing that is clear is that people talk and think rhetorically almost by instinct and respond to it even without knowing. This book gives a very quick and highly readable account of how rhetoric works and begins with Aristotle's formulation of the rules and then looks at some of the finest [and infamous] orators who have mastered rhethoric, including Cicero and Demosthenes, Abraham Lincoln, Churchill and Hitler, Thatcher and Reagan and in our time President Barack Obama. On the way, he also uses examples from pop songs, advertisements, comedy sketches and film and plays.
I think it is very useful for everyone who communicates to know about rhetoric. Use of rhetoric can make your written work become more colourful. Use of rhetoric can make your speech more persuasive. Understanding of rhetoric can also make you recognise where you are being bamboozled and manipulated.
Immediately after finishing this book, I was asked to give a talk at a staff meeting about some work I had been doing. It is normally a tedious part of the meeting when most people switch off - other people's work not being as interesting as their own. Just for fun, I thought I would apply some rhetorical techniques to my talk, such as anaphora and tricolon. I thought more carefully about the order and choice of words for their effect on the listeners. I had so much fun playing with the material that the talk went down really well and I even managed to raise a few laughs.
Everyone knows what a rhethorical question is, i.e. one that suggests its answer rather than demands it. The book shows that the subject is about a series of tricks in which arguments are made to persuade others to come to the point of view of the speaker. Of course, it is just a prevalent in writing.
The thing that is clear is that people talk and think rhetorically almost by instinct and respond to it even without knowing. This book gives a very quick and highly readable account of how rhetoric works and begins with Aristotle's formulation of the rules and then looks at some of the finest [and infamous] orators who have mastered rhethoric, including Cicero and Demosthenes, Abraham Lincoln, Churchill and Hitler, Thatcher and Reagan and in our time President Barack Obama. On the way, he also uses examples from pop songs, advertisements, comedy sketches and film and plays.
I think it is very useful for everyone who communicates to know about rhetoric. Use of rhetoric can make your written work become more colourful. Use of rhetoric can make your speech more persuasive. Understanding of rhetoric can also make you recognise where you are being bamboozled and manipulated.
Immediately after finishing this book, I was asked to give a talk at a staff meeting about some work I had been doing. It is normally a tedious part of the meeting when most people switch off - other people's work not being as interesting as their own. Just for fun, I thought I would apply some rhetorical techniques to my talk, such as anaphora and tricolon. I thought more carefully about the order and choice of words for their effect on the listeners. I had so much fun playing with the material that the talk went down really well and I even managed to raise a few laughs.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
You Talkin' to Me?- Rhetoric rahabilitated
Never, in the history of public speaking, has a book been owned which is quite quite so witty to review! Read more
Published 10 days ago by Ken Parsons
'Let me persuade you'
Some say we live in the age of communication so it seems odd that the study of rhetoric seems antiquated and neglected - part of an irrelevant classical tradition. Read more
Published 18 days ago by purpleheart
Today I say to you...
I love this book. I love the study of rhetoric anyway. I love the techniques, I love the personalities, I love the trickery. So why is this such a great book? Read more
Published 2 months ago by J. Currie
Witty, clever, fun, educational- what's not to like? Yes, that's a...
History of rhetoric that's informative, amusing and very well-written. It's sometimes a little stodgy, but that's the inevitable nature of creating a guide for the general as well... Read more
Published 2 months ago by M. W. Hatfield
The Spoken Word
This is a thorough analysis of the spoken word, the power of verbal communication, with examples from throughout history including Lincoln, Hitler, and Barack Obama. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr. William Oxley
Worth reading if speaking or writing copy is part of your job
We're not all going to be Obamas or Churchills, but most of us have to speak or write persuasively from time to time at work and if you do, you would be well advised to read this... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Pardo
Rhetoric can be fun!
I think this is probably an ideal book for a reader with a casual interest in rhetoric as it was used in the ancient world, or for anyone fascinated by how modern politicians use... Read more
Published 3 months ago by J. Scott
Interesting Introduction
A witty and interesting introduction into the history and principals of wordsmithing/oratory and good communication. Read more
Published 3 months ago by PureSymmetry
Rhetorical Romp
Not only does Sam Leith tell you about rhetoric and its history but he does it by giving example after example in a book which is written in the rhetorical style. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Andrew Dalby
Rhetoric "is simply the art of persuasion"
Reading this was more fun than I expected. Rhetoric "is simply the art of persuasion", or so says Sam Leith in this little gem. Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. F. Stevens
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