No Time for Small Talk: Essays From a Realistic Optimist

A lifelong writer with a Ph.D. in dramatic literature, Aileen Robbins served as managing editor of the Drama Review and contributed articles to the New York Post, Elle, Lear's, and other publications. But when her childhood friend, Brooke, suggested a trip to Italy for a class in the personal essay, Aileen found her true voice.

No Time for Small Talk is a collection of humorous and heartfelt essays that celebrate family, food, shopping, song, and connection. A one-time opera singer, beloved mother, grandmother, sister, and friend, Aileen co-founded the Dunn-Robbins Group, a wine and spirits marketing and public relations firm and is a member of Les Dames D'Escoffier. She co-authored Chinese Cooking for the American Kitchen with Karen Lee, which was nominated for a James Beard award.

"Why did I choose a pear for the book's cover?" she writes. "I love pears. I have pear artwork all over my house. But one pear, in particular, holds meaning for me. It is a brass sculpture by the artist Philip Grausman, a wedding gift from my parents. The brass pear is as heavy a bowling ball and almost as big. As we divided up our belongings after our divorce, my ex-husband insisted on keeping it, along with my father's cufflinks. I went along with this until I couldn't. To make a long story short, I got the pear back. And now it sits in my dining room, where it belongs. For me, the pear has always represented a quiet strength and a small triumph. And of course, pears are delicious."