The Art of Crossing Cultures

by Craig Storti

Book Overview

From the author of Why Travel Matters, the tools you need to bridge cultures and countries.

Adjusting to a new culture and getting along with the local people challenge everyone who lives and works abroad. Whether in business, diplomacy, education, or as a long-term visitor abroad, anyone can be blind-sided by a lack of international knowledge and experience and be caught at a disadvantage.

In this completely revised and expanded edition of the classic The Art of Crossing Cultures, Craig Storti shows what it takes to encounter a new culture head-on and succeed. This one-of-a-kind guidebook to bridging the cultural divide - with more than 50,000 copies sold worldwide - incorporates a stellar sampling of the writings of some of the world's greatest writers, poets and observers of the human condition.

Through the vivid perceptions and words of such literary legends as Noel Coward, Graham Greene, Rudyard Kipling, E. M. Forster, Mark Twain, Evelyn Waugh, and others, Storti paints an intimate portrait of the personal challenges of adjusting to another culture: anticipating differences, managing the temptation to withdraw, and gradually adjusting expectations of behaviour to fit reality.

This timely new edition focuses special attention on how to deal with country and culture shock and includes many new examples of cross-cultural misunderstandings - particularly in business. Storti breaks new ground with his easy-to-understand model of cultural adjustment and tips on how to master the process and develop adaptive strategies - the heart of the cross-cultural experience.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1931930538
• ISBN13: 9781931930536
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing
• Length: 228 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Wisdom that makes a difference

It's been over 15 years, but I can still remember passages from this book vividly as I read and re-read them before and during my three years in South America. The strategies and perspective offered in this book can truly make the difference between a happy, successful overseas stint and an emotional disaster. I saw many of my colleagues fall into the very traps discussed in the book (hanging out only with the expat community, refusing to learn the language, belittling the local community, overindulging in drink), which led to many unhappy experiences. Living abroad is difficult - educate yourself and arrive prepared. The reader of this book will not only learn to cope, but will be awakened to the true value of the cross-cultural experience: learning to see the world a new way, and thus becoming a new person.

Framework for Cross-Cultural Living

Using humorous anecdotes, this book gives the reader a framework for adapting to other cultures, not a step-by-step guide to "here's what to take the hostess in Bulgaria." The stories of British colonists in India may seem irrelevant if a reader is looking for that level of detail, but they do present basic guidelines that are applicable to any culture in the world. I would recommend this as one book among many that a person should read prior to moving to an overseas assignment.

I usually hate this stuff...

I am a totally way-too-confident, know-it-all travel partner, but I admit to having lost it while living in Eastern Europe last year with my husband (not his fault). Simply put: this book kept me from going home early SEVERAL times because Storti lets you moan and groan a little and then points out how you might have had a part in creating the cultural "misunderstanding" that plagues you. Trust me...if this book could help someone as stubborn as I am...it might be responsible for world peace someday.

Extraordinarily comforting and enlightening

This book remains a great source of wisdom and comfort, still needed after 15 years living abroad. The cultural differences aren't obvious any longer -- they can be deceptively subtle -- now that language and the daily facts of life are no longer an issue. However, I still trip over matters which I later realize to be cultural differences, and I assume others in similar situations do as well. And then I pull down Mr. Storti's book from the shelf and put it all into some sort of workable perspective.Highly recommended to others, even those who have no intention of going abroad but would just like to have a better understanding of the cultural differences in this world -- something sorely needed these days.By the way, Western women so quick to judge the 'sad' reality of women in Arab societies might do well to read this quotation from Harriet Martineau:"[The women of the harem] pitied us European women heartily, that we had to go about travelling, and appearing in the streets without being properly taken care of -- that is, watched. They think us strangely neglected in being left so free, and boast of [how closely they are watched] as a token of the value in which they are held."It should be a sobering reminder that it's a fools' game to judge, and certainly to pity, the reality of a person from a culture foreign to ours.Thank you for your efforts and insights, Mr. Storti.

The first thing you should buy when planning to move abroad

This is an excellent book on culture shock ~ it has helped me a great deal in my own experience as an expat. They cover each stage of culture shock and offer strategies to combat them.The only reason I didn't give this book "5 stars" is that they get a little obscure and too philosophical at times.