Salons: The Joy of Conversation

by Jaida n'ha Sandra, Jon Spayde

From the ancient Greek symposia to Gertrude Stein's famous Paris gatherings, salons have always been the incubators of provocative-at times even the frontiers of cultural change. People who might elsewhere have been socially ostracized were included in salons, welcomed for their wit, intelligence, charm, and insight. And passionate conversation often led to passionate action. In 1991 Utne Reader launched a salon renaissance all over North America when it featured a cover story on salons. The response to the article was staggering, leading Utne to organize a National Salon Association that quickly drew over 20,000 members. Conceived and written by the folks at Utne , Salons is the quintessential authority on the subject, demonstrating that joining or starting your own salon is just a living room away. Salons offers a fascinating history of the salon and supplies all the tools readers need to join or start a group of their own. Variations on the salon theme are explored, from studious book clubs and book circles to creativity salons, and finally online saloning. A closing chapter looks at salons as bedrocks for activism and institutions for keeping social consciousness alive for the long-haul.

Utne Reader will heavily promote Salons in their magazine and website
National print advertising
National publicity
Author events in Minnesota
Co-op available Jaida n'ha Sandra is a long-time salon-keeper and on staff for two years with Utne Reader . She now teaches Anthropology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She lives in Honolulu, Hawaii. Jon Spayde is a Contributing Editor at Utne Reader and a freelance writer. He developed art-based salons in San Francisco and Minneapolis. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. [box] Also available from Utne Reader Visionaries TP $17.95 0-86571-445-2 USA

Genres: Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

Reviews

[Story · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides an interesting overview of the history and impact of salons as incubators of creativity, community, political change, scientific discovery. As well, the book tells how to create your own salon, giving details on practicalities like recruiting members and finding a suitable space as well as advice on how to choose topics, deal with difficult people and conflict and so on. It also describes alternatives to conversational salons including play-salons where people get together to create art, stories, theater or games, salons for political activism and so on.

I enjoyed reading it and am looking forward to putting some of the ideas into practice in a group I belong to.