The Best Strangers in the World
Stories From a Life Spent Listening
HarperCollins · Print & ebook · March 21, 2023
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “The Best Strangers in the World is a witty, poignant book that captures Ari Shapiro’s love for the unusual, his pursuit of the unexpected, and his delight at connection against the odds.”—Ronan Farrow, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and New York Times-bestselling author of Catch and Kill and War on Peace From the beloved host of NPR's All Things Considered, a stirring memoir-in-essays that is also a lover letter to journalism.
We earn from qualifying purchases.
- Who it’s for
- A smart, easy-to-enter book about listening, with enough bite to reward a second pass.
- Genres
- Lives in Journalism, Journalism, Personal Memoirs
- Published
- HarperCollins, March 21, 2023
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved.
The Best MindsJonathan Rosen59% matchShares Personal Memoirs
The MessageTa-Nehisi Coates53% match
Soldiers and KingsJason De León53% match
The Book of CharlieDavid Von Drehle53% match
Only Plane in the SkyA Full 45-Person Cast, Garrett M. Graff55% match
For younger readers: Everything Sad Is Untrue (a True Story), Channel Kindness: Stories of Kindness and Community, I Loved You in Another Life
Start with three books, and this one can be the first.
Members get a new edition every morning: a route out from their books to essays, research and talks, with the reason for each.
Start with this bookAbout this book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “The Best Strangers in the World is a witty, poignant book that captures Ari Shapiro’s love for the unusual, his pursuit of the unexpected, and his delight at connection against the odds.”—Ronan Farrow, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and New York Times-bestselling author of Catch and Kill and War on Peace From the beloved host of NPR's All Things Considered, a stirring memoir-in-essays that is also a lover letter to journalism.
Continue reading
In his first book, broadcaster Ari Shapiro takes us around the globe to reveal the stories behind narratives that are sometimes heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking, but always poignant. He details his time traveling on Air Force One with President Obama, or following the path of Syrian refugees fleeing war, or learning from those fighting for social justice both at home and abroad. As the self-reinforcing bubbles we live in become more impenetrable, Ari Shapiro keeps seeking ways to help people listen to one another; to find connection and commonality with those who may seem different; to remind us that, before religion, or nationality, or politics, we are all human. The Best Strangers in the World is a testament to one journalist’s passion for Considering All Things—and sharing what he finds with the rest of us.
Listening, Sharpened
A smart, easy-to-enter book about listening, with enough bite to reward a second pass.
Come here for
- listening as craft
- playful rigor, not solemnity
Expect
- short, story-shaped reflections
- history threaded through everyday attention
Where it sits
| Lives in Journalism | 59% |
|---|---|
| Journalism | 46% |
| Personal Memoirs | 31% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Lives in Journalism
- LGBTQ+ Lives
- Jewish Lives
- History Writing
Show all 8 publisher categories
- LGBTQ+ History
- Music Writing
- Radio History
- Peace & Conflict
- Authors
- Ari Shapiro, HarperOne
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- March 21, 2023
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Lives in Journalism