Ways of speaking can help heal or they can provoke; they can inflame
passions or settle nerves.' Professor Jonathan Jansen is fast becoming a
household name in South Africa, for his critical and at times
inconvenient voice. In this collection of articles previously published
in The Times Jansen highlights the issues that confront our country --
the issues we need to talk about. With humour, humility, occasional
anger and a good dose of common sense Jansen discusses education, race
and identity, the state of our nation, leadership and even sport. When
asked what the secret of his controversial columns is, he answers, 'A
good column upsets half of your readers; the secret is that it should be
a different half each time.' Jansen takes his inspiration from a diverse
group of people -- statesmen, teachers, students, children and everyday
South Africans he meets -- and introduces us to them through these
stories to bring us a vision of the South Africa we can build, if only
we pull together and work to heal the wounds of the past. A book to make
you stop and think ... and then talk about his ideas around the dinner
table, in the staffroom, in the classroom or on the bus. All the
royalties from this book will go to the No Student Hungry campaign at
the University of the Free State.