Talk to Me: Listening Between the Lines

Learning to Listen to Each Other

Some readers express dismay at the 'disjointed' nature of Smith's book. She intended it to be because she investigates precisely that: the disjointed, disconnected quality of our lives, shown mainly by the way we speak to each other. She asks: is disjointed speaking a sign of disjointed thinking and feeling? How does all this disconnection influence the governing classes in Washington, D.C.? Smith moves back and forth between excerpts from the interviews she did with hundreds of D.C. residents, her childhood in Baltimore, and her work in the theatre. Smith, in effect, invites you, the reader, to join her in trying to reflect wisely about the experience of being an American, as it was, as it is. It's a fascinating book. Go with its rhythms, don't fight them, and you won't want it to end.