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Loading... Modern Manners: An Etiquette Book for Rude Peopleby P. J. O'Rourke
Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 1588164543, Hardcover)As a follow up to the extremely successful Town & Country's Social Graces comes this new collection of essays by some of our most celebrated writers, exploring the need for manners in today's hectic world. Such keen observers as David Brown, Hugh Downs, Frank McCourt, and Peggy Noonan offer their witty and incisive views on how to avoid offending others. Town & Country magazine has been synonymous with good taste and refinement for more than a century. So who better to comment on the need for manners in a time of constant cell phone chatter, non-step competition, hair-trigger-tempers, and fast-paced lifestyles? Both humorous and insightful, this sparkling collection of essays reflects on the pressing need for kindness, consideration, and civilized behavior. And the list of contributors is stellar: David Brown makes a persuasive plea for civility; Jamie Lee Curtis talks about "Having Dinner with the Family"; Sonya Friedman reflects on motherhood; Charles Osgood comments on everyday courtesies; and Ted Sorenson discusses "Patriotic Pride." With topics that range from the art of listening to good elevator etiquette, these eloquent pieces offer advice worth following. Amazon.com (ISBN 087113375X, Paperback)As one of the few folks who made it out of the National Lampoon alive and writing, P. J. O'Rourke is--a comment that might please him more than most humorists--an elder statesman of American humor. While this says much about the thinness of the field, you gotta give him his props.Modern Manners is good, early O'Rourke, a book that you can read and enjoy without being to the right of Francisco Franco. Who can resist lines such as "A hat should be taken off when you greet a lady and left off for the rest of your life. Nothing looks more stupid than a hat." Or, "Don't wear a tweed jacket to work unless you expect to flush a covey of quail from behind the Xerox machine." Manners are a moving target, and some sections are in need of revision (cocaine really was a big deal, wasn't it?), but don't let that dissuade you. By and large, Modern Manners comes through admirably. (retrieved from Amazon Mon, 19 Nov 2007 03:58:08 -0500) |
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