{"product_id":"9781497639942","title":"The Patient Has the Floor: Essays","description":"\u003cb\u003eMasterful essays by one of the most distinctive voices in broadcast journalism\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn his \u003ci\u003eLetter from America\u003c\/i\u003e reports for the BBC and as the host of PBS’s \u003ci\u003eMasterpiece Theatre\u003c\/i\u003e, Alistair Cooke addressed millions of people all over the world every week. The fourteen essays collected here, each of which was first delivered as a speech, showcase the wit, charm, and eloquence of Cooke’s voice in more intimate, but no less intimidating, settings.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn exclusive forums as varied as the Mayo Clinic and a conference of British and American scholars investigating the “state of the language,” Cooke eagerly challenges expert opinions and delightfully skewers the pretensions of the powerful. Addressing the House of Representatives on the bicentennial of the Continental Congress, he warns against the dangers of sentimentalizing history and wryly notes that “practically every man who signed the Declaration of Independence is at this moment being measured for a halo or, at worst a T-shirt.” At the Royal College of Surgeons in London, he compares his listeners to armed robbers and to the disreputable half of that infamous duo Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. “If I could be benevolent dictator of the United States for a year,” he informs the National Trust for Historic Preservation, “I should provide several million jobs for the wrecking industry.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNo one played the devil’s advocate with as much grace and good humor as did Alistair Cooke. \u003ci\u003eThe Patient Has the Floor \u003c\/i\u003eis an eminently quotable testament to his extraordinary talents as a journalist, scholar, and public speaker.","brand":"Open Road Media","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47145036218608,"sku":"9781497639942","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781497639942_p0.jpg?v=1763702387","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781497639942","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}