Sarah L. Kaufman is the dance critic of the Washington Post, where she has written about the arts, sports, and culture for more than twenty years. Her many journalism awards include the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Criticism. She and her husband have three children and live in Takoma Park, Maryland. The Art of Grace is her first book.
Kaufman's deft way with words aligns perfectly with her subject: Smooth and controlled, she writes with authority about an impressive array of subjects... Thoughtful and inspiring. -- Sarah Archer - Washington Post Kaufman mines history, pop culture, sports, and her own neighborhood to share moving moments of grade in beautifully sculpted prose... [She] reminds us that even in a world where most eyes are locked on smart phones, there are still people who really listen, think before they speak, and move gracefully. -- Candance Smith - Booklist, Starred review As an antidote to the ill manners so prevalent in today's society, Pulitzer Prize-winning dance critic Kaufman recalls the reader to grace... Kaufman's narrative is timely and sheds light on a long-lost art. -- Library Journal, Starred review Part love letter, part cultural commentary, and wholly a joyous exploration of the essential trait of grace, from ancient Greece to the golden age of Hollywood. -- Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post and author of Thrive Both joyful and directive, a celebrity-packed collection of observations and a manual for easing anyone's way through the world. It's a book with a message, delivered with calm command. -- Cathy Lynn Grossman - Huffington Post Sarah Kaufman offers an old-fashioned cure for a modern-day ailment. The remedy for our culture of coarseness is grace-forgetting ourselves, being attentive to others, and approaching our encounters with the effortlessness that comes from being at ease in the world. This is an elegant, compelling, and, yes, graceful book. -- Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and A Whole New Mind This is a truly eloquent book... Sarah Kaufman paints a charming, dignified portrait of a lost art. -- Adam Grant, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and author of Give and Take As a dance photographer, I have considered myself an expert on the art of grace. Not anymore. Sarah Kaufman has set the gold standard by which I will judge all future subjects. -- Jordan Matter, photographer and author of Dancers Among Us Sarah Kaufman has nailed it: she has detected precisely what it is that has changed us so for the worse... Her book is itself most graceful, and ever knowing. -- Frank Deford, NPR sports commentator, and author of Alex: A Child This thoughtful meditation will stay with me for a long while. Sarah Kaufman's thoughts on the rare virtue of grace are both inspiring and uplifting. Humanity at its finest is merely what she is offering here, and we could all use a bit more of that in our lives. -- Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and Big Magic