An Important Topic…

At this time in my life I am finding that human connection is of utmost importance. The relationships we have with our friends and family are crucial and the deeper they are, the more supportive and rewarding they can be. Maturity brings on a better understanding of ourselves and with that comes the ability to share and be open for self reflection. In return, it is just as important to be able to see others more deeply, and when this happens, stronger bonds are formed that surpass casual friendships and can be very satisfying.

As a Psychology major and a people person, I found this book to be informative and practical, with advice that is easy to implement to help guide us to developing better relationships. Not everyone is willing or capable of diving in to really connect deeply with others in an intense way, but wherever you are in your relationships, this book can help to improve your connections. So many people are struggling with their mental health and collectively we can help each other more if we are really seeing them. I recommend How to Know A Person to the young and old, alike. Great gift for grads and Dads!

As seen on Goodreads:

A practical, heartfelt guide to the art of truly knowing another person in order to foster deeper connections at home, at work, and throughout our lives—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Road to Character and The Second Mountain.

As David Brooks observes, “There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen—to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood.”

And yet we humans don’t do this well. All around us are people who feel invisible, unseen, misunderstood. In How to Know a Person, Brooks sets out to help us do better, posing questions that are essential for all of If you want to know a person, what kind of attention should you cast on them? What kind of conversations should you have? What parts of a person’s story should you pay attention to?

Driven by his trademark sense of curiosity and his determination to grow as a person, Brooks draws from the fields of psychology and neuroscience and from the worlds of theater, philosophy, history, and education to present a welcoming, hopeful, integrated approach to human connection. How to Know a Person helps readers become more understanding and considerate toward others, and to find the joy that comes from being seen. Along the way it offers a possible remedy for a society that is riven by fragmentation, hostility, and misperception.

The act of seeing another person, Brooks argues, is profoundly How can we look somebody in the eye and see something large in them, and in turn, see something larger in ourselves? How to Know a Person is for anyone searching for connection, and yearning to be understood.

About David Brooks

David Brooks became an Opinion columnist for The New York Times in September 2003. He is a commentator on “PBS NewsHour,” NPR’s “All Things Considered” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

He is the author of “Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There” and “On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense.” In March 2011 he came out with his third book, “The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement,” which was a No. 1 New York Times best seller. He is the author, most recently,  of “How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen.”

Mr. Brooks also teaches at Yale University and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.