Rhetoric of Rhetoric - Paperback

by Wayne C. Booth (Author)

In this manifesto, distinguished critic Wayne Booth claims that communication in every corner of life can be improved if we study rhetoric closely.

• Written by Wayne Booth, author of the seminal book, The Rhetoric of Fiction (1961).


• Explores the consequences of bad rhetoric in education, in politics, and in the media.


• Investigates the possibility of reducing harmful conflict by practising a rhetoric that depends on deep listening by both sides.

Back Jacket

The Rhetoric of RHETORIC is a manifesto addressed to a broad audience, dramatizing the importance of rhetorical studies and lamenting their widespread neglect. In it, distinguished critic Wayne C. Booth claims that communication in every corner of life can be improved if only we study rhetoric more closely.

After exploring and combating the various pejorative definitions of "rhetoric" and briefly tracing its history, Booth explores the consequences of bad rhetoric in education, in politics, and in the media. A few cures for bad rhetoric are offered, and a final chapter investigates the possibility of reducing harmful conflict by practicing a rhetoric that depends on deep listening by both sides. The key example used is the warfare between science and religion.

Author Biography

Wayne C. Booth is Distinguished Service Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Chicago. His previous publications include The Rhetoric of Fiction (1961), A Rhetoric of Irony (1974), Critical Understanding (1979), The Company We Keep: An Ethics of Fiction (1988), The Craft of Research (with Williams and Colomb, 1994), and For the Love of It: Amateuring and Its Rivals (1999). Like most of his publications, his teaching has concentrated on diverse ways of improving human communication.