The Patient Has the Floor

Essays

Fiction & Literature, Essays & Letters, Essays, Literary Theory & Criticism, Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States
Cover of the book The Patient Has the Floor by Alistair Cooke, Open Road Media
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Alistair Cooke ISBN: 9781497639942
Publisher: Open Road Media Publication: August 19, 2014
Imprint: Open Road Media Language: English
Author: Alistair Cooke
ISBN: 9781497639942
Publisher: Open Road Media
Publication: August 19, 2014
Imprint: Open Road Media
Language: English

Masterful essays by one of the most distinctive voices in broadcast journalism

In his Letter from America reports for the BBC and as the host of PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre, Alistair Cooke addressed millions of people all over the world every week. The fourteen essays collected here, each of which was first delivered as a speech, showcase the wit, charm, and eloquence of Cooke’s voice in more intimate, but no less intimidating, settings.

In exclusive forums as varied as the Mayo Clinic and a conference of British and American scholars investigating the “state of the language,” Cooke eagerly challenges expert opinions and delightfully skewers the pretensions of the powerful. Addressing the House of Representatives on the bicentennial of the Continental Congress, he warns against the dangers of sentimentalizing history and wryly notes that “practically every man who signed the Declaration of Independence is at this moment being measured for a halo or, at worst a T-shirt.” At the Royal College of Surgeons in London, he compares his listeners to armed robbers and to the disreputable half of that infamous duo Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. “If I could be benevolent dictator of the United States for a year,” he informs the National Trust for Historic Preservation, “I should provide several million jobs for the wrecking industry.”

No one played the devil’s advocate with as much grace and good humor as did Alistair Cooke. *The Patient Has the Floor *is an eminently quotable testament to his extraordinary talents as a journalist, scholar, and public speaker.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Masterful essays by one of the most distinctive voices in broadcast journalism

In his Letter from America reports for the BBC and as the host of PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre, Alistair Cooke addressed millions of people all over the world every week. The fourteen essays collected here, each of which was first delivered as a speech, showcase the wit, charm, and eloquence of Cooke’s voice in more intimate, but no less intimidating, settings.

In exclusive forums as varied as the Mayo Clinic and a conference of British and American scholars investigating the “state of the language,” Cooke eagerly challenges expert opinions and delightfully skewers the pretensions of the powerful. Addressing the House of Representatives on the bicentennial of the Continental Congress, he warns against the dangers of sentimentalizing history and wryly notes that “practically every man who signed the Declaration of Independence is at this moment being measured for a halo or, at worst a T-shirt.” At the Royal College of Surgeons in London, he compares his listeners to armed robbers and to the disreputable half of that infamous duo Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. “If I could be benevolent dictator of the United States for a year,” he informs the National Trust for Historic Preservation, “I should provide several million jobs for the wrecking industry.”

No one played the devil’s advocate with as much grace and good humor as did Alistair Cooke. *The Patient Has the Floor *is an eminently quotable testament to his extraordinary talents as a journalist, scholar, and public speaker.

More books from Open Road Media

Cover of the book Judy's Journey by Alistair Cooke
Cover of the book Last Respects by Alistair Cooke
Cover of the book The Dying by Alistair Cooke
Cover of the book Murder Must Advertise by Alistair Cooke
Cover of the book Trailer Park Noir by Alistair Cooke
Cover of the book Prisoner of the Indies by Alistair Cooke
Cover of the book The Shadow Pavilion by Alistair Cooke
Cover of the book Oliver Dibbs to the Rescue! by Alistair Cooke
Cover of the book Selected Historical Novels by Alistair Cooke
Cover of the book Murder on Cue by Alistair Cooke
Cover of the book Inmate 1577 and No Way Out by Alistair Cooke
Cover of the book Brandeis by Alistair Cooke
Cover of the book Big Sky Country by Alistair Cooke
Cover of the book At Winter's End by Alistair Cooke
Cover of the book Bearing the Cross by Alistair Cooke
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy