We navigate our interactions with strangers according to a host of unwritten rules, rituals and (sometimes awkward) attempts at politeness. But what if the people we meet were not a problem, but a gift?
When philosopher and traveller Will Buckingham's partner died, he sought solace in throwing open the door to new people. Now, as we reflect on our experiences of the pandemic and its enforced separations, and as global migration figures ever more prominently in our collective future, Buckingham brings together insights from philosophy, anthropology, history and literature to explore how our traditions of meeting the other can mitigate the issues of our time. Taking in stories of loneliness, exile and friendship from classical times to the modern day, and alighting in adapting communities from Birmingham to Myanmar, Hello, Stranger asks: how do we set aside our instinctive xenophobia - fear of outsiders - and embrace our equally natural philoxenia - love of strangers and newness?
Publisher: Granta Books
ISBN: 9781783785643
Number of pages: 336
Weight: 444 g
Dimensions: 216 x 135 x 23 mm
Following a personal tragedy, Will Buckingham propels himself out, alone, into the world, to explore what it means to be a stranger - the joys and pitfalls, the perennial truths. A glorious book, fabulously learned and funny, and filled with all manner of stirring stories - Philip Marsden, author of The Summer Isles
A treasure trove of all the possibilities strangers can be to each other. Read, learn and savour - Madeleine Bunting, author of Labours of Love: The Crisis of Care
Buckingham provides a map for others to follow, showing that when we show kindness to strangers, we may be entertaining angels unawares - John Paul Flintoff, author of How to Change the World (School of Life)
Humane and heart-warming - Caroline Sanderson, Bookseller
A moving memoir of finding solace - Economist
Very excellent - Reverend Richard Coles, BBC Radio 4 Saturday Live
A well-constructed, eloquent celebration of the traditions and rituals of hospitality and of opening your door to unknown guests - Mail on Sunday
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