C. S. Lewis and the Craft of Communication

C. S. Lewis, if he was anything, was a rhetor, that is a communicator. He knew how to persuade an audience. As Professor Beebe reminds his readers all good communication is audience centered. And, Lewis knew how to reach an audience without manipulating them. His skill was universally applied. He wrote in many literary genres: Poetry (narrative and lyric); Fiction (including: Novels, Science Fiction, Children's Fantasy, and Satire); Non-fiction (including: Literary Criticism, Philosophy of Education, and Essays); he was a notorious letter writer and those who received his letters saved them. This accounts for the now eight volumes of Lewis letters in publication. Furthermore, Lewis's skill as a communicator was also in evidence through the spoken word as a Fellow at Oxford University and later as a Cambridge University Professor; also, his ability to communicate orally was on display as a guest lecturer on the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), and as a public lecturer and sometimes preacher and debater. To understand the rhetorical threads woven throughout the fabric of Lewis's work a tapestry that gives evidence as to why he was a master communicator, Beebe's book is the one for my money. First Professor Beebe is one of America's greatest professors of communication. He brings to his analysis of Lewis much background and insight. Furthermore, he has been able to select from the wide range of Lewis's written and oral communication and abstract from these principles and make them explicit. Beebe brings to light clarity others who lack his background might miss. Consequently, anyone engaged in any form of communication, whether it is conversation with one's spouse, communication with children, engagement with friends, or communication in professional and public settings, there is much to be gleaned from Beebe's analysis of Lewis. I've been studying Lewis for 50 years and I learned much from what this book brings to the table. I highly recommend C. S. Lewis and the Craft of Communication! Professor Jerry Root

How can a single book improve both one's public speaking and professional writing? If the author has written over 14 bestselling communication textbooks and is former president of the National Communication Association he could do a fine job of it. And how would such an individual write such a book that was enjoyable and entertaining as well as instructive?Professor Steven Beebe did just that by studying the life, the books, and presentations of C. S. Lewis. Beebe concluded that C. S. Lewis' fame and popularity were due in part to his application of five important principles and skills Beebe discovered from the field of Communication Studies.The first communication principle Lewis epitomized was he was a 'holistic" communicator. He wrote for the ear as well as the eye, he wrote logically as well as well as imaginatively and he stepped over the difference between rhetorically and poetic.As a significant body of C.S. Lewis writing is theological, both professional and lay ministers can especially benefit from the communication principle and skills described in "... Craft of Communication"Dennis A Romig, Ph.D. psychologist