How We Meet and Why It Matters

The Art of Gathering

***THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER*** 
 
"AN INCREDIBLE BOOK" - Brené Brown 
 
"A MUST-READ!" - Chris Anderson, curator of TED 
 
"AN URGENT MANIFESTO" - Seth Godin 
 
"FANTASTIC" - Forbes 
 
__________________________________ 
 Gatherings in our lives are often disappointing and unproductive, but they don’t have to be . . .At a time when coming together is more important than ever, Priya Parker offers a human approach to gathering that will help you create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play. 
 
The Art of Gathering is both a journey and a guide, full of exciting ideas with real-world applications. This book will forever change the way you look at your next meeting, industry conference, dinner party and barbecue – and how you host and attend them.

[A] remarkable new book about how we spend our time together, at work, at home, and beyond. If you want to get more out of every event, whether it's with your boss and co-workers or friends and family, The Art of Gathering can help

[A] fantastic book . . . . Good things happen when people connect. Especially when we follow Priya's sage advice

Enthusiastically delivered formulas for better get-togethers... useful to those whose job it is to plan meetings, conferences, and the like and a worthy survival manual for consumers of the same

A long overdue and urgent manifesto for anyone who has the temerity (and generosity) to organize the time and energy of a team in order to call a meeting

This clear and engaging book sets down many things you thought you knew, until you find yourself remembering that you did not attend to its simple rules at the last significant event you hosted.... A passion for successful encounters enlivens every page

author of Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age and Alone Together

A brilliant and eminently practical guide! The Art of Gathering will open your eyes to just how often we gather - and how we can turn those mundane events into dazzling opportunities for meaning, dreaming, and doing. This book should be mandatory reading for everyone from the business executive to the community activist, the conflict resolution specialist to the dinner host. Concrete advice that will forever change the way you gather

founder of the Harvard International Negotiation Program and author of Negotiating the Nonnegotiable

Don't read this book alone. Read it at a gathering of friends, in a book club, with a team of colleagues, or on a family reunion. But read it-for its wisdom, its charm, its insight, and its ability to make every encounter with others more meaningful and enjoyable. The Art of Gathering is a book long overdue, and just in time." -Bruce Feiler, bestselling author of The Secrets of Happy Families and Walking the Bible "Many of the best things in life happen when people gather. So it's remarkable how little conscious intent goes into planning such moments. Thank goodness for this book. It opens up new ways of thinking about wonderful gatherings with a delicious confection of smartly-defined concepts and detailed examples. Hosts of all kinds, this is a must-read!

We're more connected than ever. But it doesn't really feel that way. We talk on the phone less than we used to, but we spend more time in front of screens, or plugged into earbuds. We're constantly interacting, but not always communicating on a meaningful level. We're busy, but we're not often getting a lot done. Priya Parker aims to change that. In her new book The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, Parker sets out to make our lives more productive, and our interactions more meaningful

Priya Parker's The Art of Gathering is brilliant. The book is a timely reminder: It's our human-to-human links that make the most meaningful moments of our lives. Page by page, Parker offers a decoder ring for the secret forces at work when we gather for business, crises or celebration. What to leave out, where to meet, how to charm-it's all here, explained with unforgettable stories and clever tips. You'll only put this book down because it will make you so hungry for a gathering of your own

author of The Seventh Sense and The Age of the Unthinkable

The Art of Gathering is one of the most transformative books I've read in years. It has fundamentally changed I how run meetings, attend conferences, and even arrange dinner with friends. Equally important, it has reminded me why people come together in the first place and why we should treat every gathering as an opportunity to deepen our shared humanity

As social animals, humans gather, meet, and bond-seeking meaning, purpose, creative expression, and more. In almost all cases this is an unconscious process leading to subtle frustration and a lack of satisfaction. For the last few years I've avoided social gatherings because I find them meaningless and banal. I learned much from this book. Priya Parker has created both an art and a science to gathering in ways that can bring joy and fulfillment to any meeting

Priya Parker is a facilitator, strategic advisor and the acclaimed author of The Art of Gathering. Trained in the field of conflict resolution, Parker has worked with colleges, corporations, museums, non-profits, political movements, and family businesses in moments of change. 
 
Most recently, she advised the Zohran Mamdani campaign on their gathering strategy for a successful New York City mayoral bid. On her popular Substack, GROUP LIFE, Parker teaches practical skills in conflict and connection. She studied organizational design at MIT, public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and political and social thought at the University of Virginia.

***THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER*** 
 
"AN INCREDIBLE BOOK" - Brené Brown 
 
"A MUST-READ!" - Chris Anderson, curator of TED 
 
"AN URGENT MANIFESTO" - Seth Godin 
 
"FANTASTIC" - Forbes 
 
__________________________________Gatherings in our lives are often disappointing and unproductive, but they don’t have to be . . .At a time when coming together is more important than ever, Priya Parker offers a human approach to gathering that will help you create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play. 
 
The Art of Gathering is both a journey and a guide, full of exciting ideas with real-world applications. This book will forever change the way you look at your next meeting, industry conference, dinner party and barbecue – and how you host and attend them.

Priya Parker

Insightful and nuanced, The Art of Fighting is a paradigm-shifting examination of how we can get along better by understanding the role of conflict in our lives more deeply.

Jefferson Fisher, author of The Next Conversation

This book captures something many of us feel but struggle to name: avoidance is not harmony. The Art of Fighting delivers a sharp, human framework for turning tension into clarity and disagreement into belonging.

Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and The Power of Regret

Priya Parker offers a generous, radically helpful guide through our divides – without flattening what makes us different

Suleika Jaouad, author of The Book of Alchemy

Leave it to Priya Parker to name that the missing link to growing new ways of community is not merely in connecting meaningfully, but in fighting meaningfully. This is a life-giving book, and Priya is the luminous and ingenious teacher we need.

Krista Tippett, host of On Being and author of 'Becoming Wise'

The Art of Fighting is a must read for all of us.

Alicia Garza, co-founder, Black Lives Matter and author of The Purpose of Power

Priya Parker illuminates how to navigate the hard conversations we’d rather avoid —and how to come out wiser and more connected.

Daniel L. Shapiro, author of Negotiating the Nonnegotiable

This is not just a book about having better arguments, it's a manual for building stronger relationships. If families, workplaces, schools, and governments followed Priya Parker’s sage advice, the world would be less of a mess.

Adam Grant, author of 'Think Again' and 'Hidden Potential'

The Art of Fighting couldn’t land at a better time.

Astute and humane … A wise manual for clashing with care.

Readable, intelligent and relatable … an exceptional guide for any group seeking ways to transform conflict into an occasion for positive growth.

The strongest and most effective relationships are often built on healthy conflict. A vital skill for movement building, for every facet of our personal and political lives, Parker gives us the tools to build bridges across our disputes in this essential book.

The Transformative Power of Conflict

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
"Paradigm-shifting" - Jefferson Fisher, author of The Next Conversation 
 
"A generous, radically helpful guide" - Suleika Jaouad, author of The Book of Alchemy 
 
"A life-giving book" - Krista Tippett, host of On Being and author of Becoming Wise 
 
A groundbreaking exploration of how we fight and how we build healthy conflict, from the author of The Art of Gathering.We say we want community. Successful teams, dynamic friend groups and high-performing colleagues. Yet many of us don’t understand the crucial element we need to forge long-lasting communities: healthy conflict.Although most of us fear conflict, fighting can be an opportunity to broaden our perspectives, reach new breakthroughs, and bring us even closer together. The Art of Fighting teaches the transformative art of ‘healthy heat’, and how it can help us overcome any disagreement – from book club squabbles to board room brawls.Priya Parker draws on her original research, real-world examples and her far-reaching experience to offer an authoritative and expansive guide to the challenges, nuances and endless opportunity of conflict.

Priya Parker

Books by Priya Parker

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