One Kiss or Two?: The Art and Science of Saying Hello

This is an extensive volume of pure text, uninterrupted by illustrations. It’s a mystery for what readership One Kiss or Two? was written. Who would read a nearly three-hundred-page text on the “art and science of saying hello”? Andy Scott is a historian and diplomat, and this book is an academic volume, though, even as such, the purpose is questionable. As a large text, this book is extremely detailed on various aspects of greeting people. The text has superscripts referring to chapter-by-chapter references suggesting further research. But what subject matter would this fit into in an academic library? Perhaps as a sociological study. The average reader would quickly lose interest; the subject matter may have been condensed into a short paragraph to make it readable. You can read on subjects like greeting someone starting with eye contact and an eyebrow flash followed by a smile, head toss, hand gesture (lateral wave, vertical wave, or diagonal wave). There are many examples and stories, like the Kennedy/Nixon debate in 1961 or a group attempt to break the world’s longest handshake. Not many readers would be able to plow through from cover to cover.