Winning Arguments

“Fish mines cultural touchstones from Milton to ‘Married with Children’ to explain how various types of arguments are structured and how that understanding can lead to victory” — New York Times Book ReviewA lively and accessible guide to understanding rhetoric by the world class English and Law professor and bestselling author of How to Write a Sentence.Filled with the wit and observational prowess that shaped Stanley Fish’s acclaimed bestseller How to Write a Sentence, Winning Arguments guides readers through the “greatest hits” of rhetoric. In this clever and engaging guide, Fish offers insight and outlines the crucial keys you need to win any debate, anywhere, anytime—drawn from landmark legal cases, politics, his own career, and even popular film and television. A celebration of clashing minds and viewpoints, Winning Arguments is sure to become a classic. 

Review Legal scholar Fish provides a practical, thought-provoking guide to improving argument skills...An important book for any lawyer, scholar, or pundit-not to mention any spouse who has tried to walk back fractious words-Fish's shrewd work can help everyone better understand the power of effective communication in everyday life.-- "Publishers Weekly"Not a guide to coming out on top in a squabble but an exploration of the strategies that succeed in personal, political, and professional domains...This timely publication that coincides with the upcoming presidential election will attract Fish's already established audience; newcomers to the author should find this latest work simultaneously challenging and accessible.-- "Library Journal"The points [Fish] presents are philosophical, metaphysical, even ontological...The book is not so much about winning arguments as it is about better arguments, ones that elevate the discourse toward a mutual discovery of truth (whatever that is) rather than scoring points toward partisan goals...Fish presents a compelling argument about the necessity of argument.-- "Kirkus Reviews" --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From the Inside Flap "The wish to escape argument is really the wish to escape language, which is really the wish to escape politics, and is finally the wish to escape mortality--and it won't matter a whit."Ever wonder how gay marriage became accepted over such a short period, after thousands of years of peril? Or how you were dumb enough to get in that last quarrel with your significant other? Or how Donald Trump became the clear frontrunner in the Republican presidential primary? Or how millions continue to deny the devastating effects of global warming? In Winning Arguments, professor and New York Times bestselling author Stanley Fish touches on these hot-button issues as he reveals how successful argument can be used to win over popular opinion.With wit and wisdom, Fish delves into a wide range of subjects, including Donald Trump, the Supreme Court, the logic of toddlers, Monty Python, the National Football League, Holocaust denial and creationism, the nature of political spin, and the fall of Adam and Eve. For students, teachers, lawyers, managers, husbands, wives--indeed, anyone looking to persuade their opponent--Winning Arguments is a fun read and a powerful tool that will stay with readers long after they finish the book. For, as Fish writes, "argument is unavoidable, argument is interminable, argument is all we have."--Publishers Weekly --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Review Compelling...The points [Fish] presents are philosophical, metaphysical, even ontological. — Kirkus“Timely… readers will find this latest work simultaneously challenging and accessible.” — Library Journal“A guided tour through some of the most beautiful, arresting sentences in the English language.” — Slate on HOW TO WRITE A SENTENCE“Both deeper and more democratic than The Elements of Style.” — Financial Times on HOW TO WRITE A SENTENCE“[Fish] shares his connoisseurship of the elegant sentence.” — New Yorker on HOW TO WRITE A SENTENCE“How to Write a Sentence is a must read for aspiring writers and anyone who wants to deepen their appreciation of literature. If extraordinary sentences are like sports plays, Fish is the Vin Scully of great writing.” — Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, authors of They Say/I SayAn important book for any lawyer, scholar, or pundit-not to mention any spouse who has tried to walk back fractious words-Fish’s shrewd work can help everyone better understand the power of effective communication in everyday life. — Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the hardcover edition. About the Author Stanley Fish is a professor of law at Florida International University in Miami, and dean emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois in Chicago. He has also taught at the University of California at Berkeley, Johns Hopkins University, and Duke University. He is the author of fourteen books, most recently Fugitive in Flight and Save the World on Your Own Time. He lives in Andes, New York, and New York City. --This text refers to the hardcover edition. From the Back Cover “The wish to escape argument is really the wish to escape language, which is really the wish to escape politics, and is finally the wish to escape mortality—and it won’t matter a whit.”Ever wonder how gay marriage became accepted over such a short period, after thousands of years of peril? Or how you were dumb enough to get in that last quarrel with your significant other? Or how Donald Trump became the clear frontrunner in the Republican presidential primary? Or how millions continue to deny the devastating effects of global warming? In Winning Arguments, professor and New York Times bestselling author Stanley Fish touches on these hot-button issues as he reveals how successful argument can be used to win over popular opinion.With wit and wisdom, Fish delves into a wide range of subjects, including Donald Trump, the Supreme Court, the logic of toddlers, Monty Python, the National Football League, Holocaust denial and creationism, the nature of political spin, and the fall of Adam and Eve.  For students, teachers, lawyers, managers, husbands, wives—indeed, anyone looking to persuade their opponent—Winning Arguments is a fun read and a powerful tool that will stay with readers long after they finish the book. For, as Fish writes,  “argument is unavoidable, argument is interminable, argument is all we have.” --This text refers to the hardcover edition.