Friday, November 27, 2015

REVIEW: The Art of Mingling by Jeanne Martinet

Title: The Art of Mingling
Author: Jeanne Martinet
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: October 20/2015
Acquired: Print copy sent by publisher
Goodreads: ADD
Purchase: Amazon/Indigo

Fully revised and updated—with Jeanne Martinet’s trademark wit and practicality, The Art of Mingling hands you the keys to feeling at ease in any social situation.

Does the idea of going to a large party make your mouth go dry? Are you more comfortable on Facebook than face-to-face? You’re not alone: Ninety percent of the world suffers from minglephobia. Jeanne Martinet has developed a cure—a sure-fire system for overcoming fears and having a great time at any type of business or social gathering. Filled with simple techniques, tricks, tips, lines and maneuvers, and illustrated with entertaining examples, The Art of Mingling teaches you:

- Basic survival strategies for the Truly Terrified
- Opening lines that really work
- Tools and rules for keeping the conversation going in the right direction
- The all-important etiquette of escape
- Faux pas recovery techniques
- How to avoid the dumb use of smartphones
- The secret to being a good listener
- The right way to follow up online
- and much, much more!

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I wouldn't call myself a social butterfly, nor do I particularly use the adjective "social" to describe myself, but I can hold my own in a group setting-I believe in my ability to start conversations, and keep them going. However, what I DO find excruciatingly difficult to do, is leave a conversation. How do you remove yourself without waiting for an awkward pause? Without hurting feelings? Without earning the new label of 'ditcher' !? Jeanne Martinet gave me a few ideas in The Art of Mingling, as well as a whole slew of ways to rescue the less socially inclined.

The layout of this book was not strictly structured, and topics tended to venture off into other topics, but the ideas were there, and for me, it was a matter of taking what you wanted, and leaving the rest. Jeanne completely got me with her humour, and wit, in
Etiquette for the End of the World, and that style was definitely carried over in this non-fiction works. The Art of Mingling can be described as more gimmicky, rather than self-help, in my opinion, which helped me get through the book with lots of laughs, but can be discouraging for people looking for some solid tips in socializing.

I thought the act of naming the specific socializing techniques was clever, but to be honest, when they were mentioned again later on in the book, I had to flip back to the beginning to refresh my brain. But I digress, because I came into this publication looking for a way out, a way out of conversation, that is, and I found some fairly sound methods of doing so.

Overall, this book isn't going to be everyone's go-to if you're looking to master the art of chit chat, but if you can appreciate some witty advice about learning how to move around a social function/party, then take a look at what The Art of Mingling has to offer!

Recommended for Fans of: Non-fiction, Self-Help, Comedy.



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JEANNE MARTINET is the author of eight books, including THE ART OF MINGLING, (St. Martin’s Press) which has sold more than 150,000 copies and been published in ten countries. Known as “Miss Mingle,” she has been featured in such publications as: The New York Times, The New York Daily News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Newsweek, The U.S. News and World Report, Salon.com, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, TimeOut New York, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Playboy, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle and The Huffington Post. Jeanne has shared her humor and mingling know-how on hundreds of TV and radio shows, including “The Today Show,” “The CBS Early Show,” NPR’s “Morning Edition” and WNYC’s “The Leonard Lopate Show.”

In 2012, Jeanne published her first novel, ETIQUETTE FOR THE END OF THE WORLD (Liza Dawson Associates), which was selected as an Amazon Kindle Daily Deal and was #1 in Literature & Fiction/Humor.

Born in Baltimore, Jeanne Martinet has worked as an editor at E.P. Dutton and at St. Martin’s Press, and as a publicist for Workman Publishing Company. Since 1990 she has been a freelance writer and editor. A Huffington Post blogger, Jeanne lives, writes and mingles in New York City. She is available for speaking engagements.


CONTACT LINKS


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Thank-you to Jeanne, and St. Martin's Griffin for sending me a print copy to review.

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