One Kiss or Two?: The Art and Science of Saying Hello

by Andy Scott

Every encounter begins with a greeting. Air-kissing, handshakes, high-fives, nose-rubs, cheek-sniffing and foot-kissing, sticking out tongues, floor-spitting, applause, and face-slapping―different cultures have developed innumerable ways of showing pleasure at someone’s arrival. Humans have been greeting each other for thousands of years. It should be the most straightforward thing in the world, but this seemingly simple act is fraught with complications, leading to awkward misunderstandings, intercultural fumblings, and social gaffes that can potentially fracture relationships forever. Why is that? Why are greetings so important? Is there a right and wrong way to say hello? In his illuminating book One Kiss or Two? , Andy Scott―a well-traveled former diplomat and no stranger to botched first contacts himself―takes a closer look at what greetings are all about. In discovering how they have developed over human history, he uncovers a kaleidoscopic world of etiquette, body-language, evolution, neuroscience, anthropology, and history. Through in-depth research and his personal experiences, and with the help of experts ranging from the world-famous primatologist Jane Goodall to the leading sociologist of the twentieth century Erving Goffman, Scott takes readers on a captivating journey through a subject far richer than we might have expected. By the end of it, we are able to make more sense of what lies behind greetings―and what it means to be human in the modern, cross-cultural age.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology

Audio CD

First published March 1, 2018

Reviews

[Anissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the beginning this was funny and interesting and really pulled me in. The second half really started to drag in comparison. Don’t get me wrong there was still plenty of interesting ideas in the second half, but the author also had an idea of breaking off into tangents. And these tangents would last for pages, making the chapters feel quite long.

The concept was great, and I did enjoy the content, but I think it could have been paired down a bit. But that may just be my personal preference.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly interesting in the beginning, but then proved to have no driving theme/conclusion. Seemed the random data stayed mostly random data. Book then moved/stretched off-topic. Which if you're into Darwinism, liberalism and Conservative digs, you'll be fine. Left feeling very disappointed.

[Ayny · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 too much of the same thing repeated by other "experts"

[Candy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at greetings...

[Angelica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more than I did. (I mean, what an utterly charming title!)

But this read like intelligent-amateur hour. Andy is smart, but he insists on dragging his personal foibles and awkwardness (so very English) into this book.

I wrote one of my application essays to Oxford on this very topic, actually, as an illustration of operating in international contexts. I really wish he spent more time on the etiquette of greetings, but instead this was truly a whistlestop tour of history, body language, anthropology, animal behavior, etc.

So TL;DR -- mildly interesting, but I don't particularly recommend, for people interested in greetings or otherwise.

[Mills College Library]

395 S4252 2017