The Portable Pundit: A Crash Course in Cocktail Party Conversation

This is the smallest but most readable coffee table book you'll find. You can read it aloud in small groups or by yourself during commercials. It is funny, well researched, and nostalgic all at the same time. I've bought it for a dozen friends and recommend it highly.

as i've misplaced most of my memory...reading this book has been more effective than ginkgo biloba. i'm waiting for the portable pundit TV travel guides and online cocktail party game.

Remember Uncle John's bathroom reader? That gift to those of us who enjoy a linger longer than a PEOPLE magazine article. Well, mixologist, amateur aesthetitician and pithy guy T.E. Krieger seems to have taken on the rather large task of telling us what we need to say at cocktail parties, the bulk of which are drab boring affairs where the goal is usually to see how long can one last, that or who one can leave with. But actually what he seems to have done is to give a scattershot glance at enough disciplines to make even the least well-read out there passably informed on the basics (philosophy, art, literature, film...) and when mixed with an average intelligence and a little humility might actually add something to your run of the mill cocktail banter. That, or given us some good light reading for the john. Think of it as NPR meets Howard Stern with a little too much Dennis Miller thrown in...

Covers lots of topics, from film to art to literature. Not too deep on any of them but enough so that you don't sound like an idiot when your date says she majored in art history at UCLA. I guess that is the point. The book is worthwhile. Not an ivy league education in a paperback, but fills in those gaps where you need them. Of course, you can just always say, "looks like rain tomorrow" and sip in your drink quietly. Or get this and spend an afternoon brushing up.Sam

Finally, the book I've been looking for, the "Cliffs Notes of cocktail conversation." This book is perfect for people like me, who sometimes feel lost when conversations turn to Politics, Architecture or -- heaven forbid -- Art. T.E. Krieger put together this wonderful little book which includes juicy tidbits, and great one-liners that stylishly helps you change a boring, "I have no idea what you're talking about" conversation into the fun, "Now that's what I'm talking about" conversation. I learned a ton from The Portable Pundit; it's fun, and the gems are easy to remember.... Perfect for us busy New Yorkers