The Chairs Are Where the People Go: How to Live, Work, and Play in the City Paperback – July 5, 2011

Sheila Heti is an author with three novels under her belt. Misha Glouberman is her friend. He’s a cool friend. He’s a performer and an artist: one of the things he does is facilitate performances that are kind of non-performances for other people. He lives in Toronto, which is important because some of the best pieces in this book have to do with where he lives and what it’s like living there. Misha is also, Sheila writes, a near-perfect conversationalist. He speaks in sentences that read well written down, with little or no editing.So she had this idea. She asked Misha, the best talker she knows, to talk about anything he wanted and she’d write it down. And that’s what he –they- did. This book is Misha talking about things he cares about enough to talk about them or things he knows enough about that it’s worthwhile to explain them to people who only know him through this book.The pieces are short. The longest is the last one in the book. It’s about quitting smoking and it runs six pages. Many are only one paragraph or page long. Hey! It’s a good idea! How many people do you know who once they start talking, can’t stop but just prose on, like the Little Engine That Could, until they run out of steam. Misha’s talkpieces are only as long as they need to be to say what Misha has to say. When he’s said it, he stops talking. Hurrah for Misha!Misha is a delightful companion. He’s thoughtful. He has strong views and enthusiasms but he’s not doctrinaire. The way he expresses himself is elegant though seeming casual: many of his statements just to catch it, whatever it is he’s talking about. “The best conversationalist,” he writes (in a piece entitled Storytelling Is Not the Same as Conversation), “are people who are hoping to end up somewhere they didn’t expect.” By that standard Misha does well.One of his preoccupations is with creating surprise. “Suspend[ing] the fear of failure” is how he expresses it. He conducts ‘music’ workshops where they create music that ‘s really mutually created noise –there’s no rhythm, harmony or melody. He doesn’t teach people to play instruments -- that’s a trap: henceforth you’re caught up in the Amateur Musician trap. He organizes unconferences where attendees create their own agenda by moving around and joining with other people with similar interests. Who knows better what interests the people there than they themselves? In an age of Google, why should a conference consist of hundreds of people sitting and listening to one person lecturing in front of them? He’s also somewhat skeptical about civic improvement: who benefits from banning automobiles from a market neighborhood like the one he used to live in? Why didn’t authorities talk to people who live and work there before they did it? He’s no NIMBY(Not In My Back Yard)ist: he accepts limits to what we can decide about our own neighborhoods but he thinks what the residents feel is important. It should be important to civic authorities too. Orders shouldn’t come from above without prior talking below.This book feels like talking to a wise, good friend, someone who has something to tell you but doesn’t push it. There are lots of self-help books out there. Most of them are slick: they use zippy prose to offer fatuous advice. This isn’t one of those books. What’s on display in these pages is real and good.

I bought this recently for my high-school-aged granddaughter. I especially wanted her to read the chapter about going to Harvard. Also the win-win solution surrounding the noisy bar on the street. Misha has a fresh way of looking at the world that I think we could all learn from. Each "chapter" is very short, but it packs a lot to think about into each one. I would love to attend one of his charades training classes. You won't be disappointed in this little book.

Not everyone's cup of tea, however, a friend who knows Misha said it's best to view this as an artwork, rather than any kind of structured and coherent coda. In that way it's simple and sweet. And there's some genuine wisdom there that has come through some hard won, but surprising channels.

I liked it and I wish I could say I loved it. There's a lot of good stuff here that makes it a good book to read but some of the stuff was just too repetitive and made simple concepts too complex. Buy it-read it for the good parts. [You may like different parts than me but you can decide what is good]

I'm enjoying this book and will be sharing it with friends. Grounded, yet light and approachable philosophy and style. You know when you read something and go - oh my gosh, i've thought that but could never say it so well. And then there are the parts where I'm stretched. I appreciate the insights into improvisation and miscommunication. Hopefully someday I'll bump into Misha and share a beer.

The book is as described, just has some minor wear, very good for the price. I would definitely buy from this seller again.

Everyone should have this book. I love it. A fresh way to see the world.

Words of wisdom for the everyday events that non-everyday people need help understanding.

The thoughts are brief but also interesting, well-articulated, and well-considered. A perfect length to read on the subway or to send an entire excerpt to a friend via text :) I'd have coffee and listen to Misha discuss these any day.

ich liebe es klugen Gedanken kluger Menschen zu lauschen (oder zu lesen) und hin und wieder festzustellen, dass es so viel Menschliches allzu menschliches gibt, überall. Mich macht das glücklich und versöhnlich und die von Misha Glouberman erzählten Geschichten und Problemchen sind gar nicht so weit weg von meine ganz normalen Alltagswahnsinn.Sofern man mit anderen zusammen lebt und arbeitet, und sich hin und wieder fragt wie und warum Gesellschaft so funktioniert und Menschen so sind wie sie sind ... hier gibt es viele Antworten und geistreiche Unterhaltung zu vielen Themen des Zusammenlebens in unserer Welt heute.

An excellent book! Misha has spent a great deal of time helping people stretch themselves as they interact with one another. He is very observant, intuitive, kind and experimental.

easy and fun to read, i liked the one theme - one chapter structure, interesting to observe how groups function, some helpful wisdoms about neighbour relationships...

*Contains spoilers*From all the previous reviews I gather that you will either love or hate this book. I am in the latter category. It consists of opinion pieces written by a millennial who:a) Make money by teaching people how to play charades.b) Teach "music" classes to musicians without being able to play an instrument. (groups of people sounding vowels out loud etc. Teaching them about improvisation)I did not find any of the opinions very thought provoking. The piece from the title states that if you put as many as possible people close to a speaker you have a better chance of keeping their attention than if you put tables in the middle and make some people stand at the very back while listening. There is a piece stating that young people are better, and more realistic than their parents generation when it comes to marriage. It ends up being just a statement really without any real research or info.This book will probably appeal to a younger "hipster" type of crowd, but If you have lived live you probably do not need someone to tell you how to deal with a noisy neighbour.We do have different tastes and if you don't hate it like me, you will probably find it as an invaluable source of inspiration on how to navigate life. Happy reading.