Miss Manners Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior

Writing in the persona of Miss Manners, Judith Martin manages to be simultaneously tongue in cheek and in deadly earnest. Throughout her book she skewers pomposity and snobbery, while fighting for the maintenance of gracious and generous good manners. She shows that one need not be wealthy to

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conduct oneself well.

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I can't say that I love this book - the few times that I have had to use this book, the information that I needed was not in the book. I can't really compare it to other books, but it hasn't been that helpful.

You just have to love Judith Martin's practical and satirical guides to good manners.

Practical, witty and thoroughly informative.

Witty and comprehensive, ideal for dipping or reference, this book has been my constant companion since I discovered it in 1985 while attending the wedding of a friend in Massachusetts. In any dilemma involving polite behaviour or the lack of it, Miss Manners can be guaranteed to expose the

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essentials of the situation with such a surgical stroke that you feel not pain but relief. This is a replacement for my original copy of the English edition which fell to pieces through constant use. I have also given away several more copies to friends and relatives

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The most important thing I learned from the book was how to say no.

As a woman living in the South who had tea parties with her grandmother on a regular basis, this book made me laugh so loudly at times that any company I had would assume that I was not a lady at all. In all seriousness, this book puts a spin on the "traditional" answers that well-meaning ladies

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and gentlemen seek when trying to understand how to behave in polite society.

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Entertaining, but the question-and-answer format seems to leave some things out, and lends itself to a result that is less of an etiquette guide and more of a snappy answers to stupid questions sort of thing. Sometimes it is difficult to tell when Miss Manners is kidding, but more importantly,

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sometimes it is difficult to tell, even after reading, what the correct thing to do actually is. Her guide to a surprisingly dignified wedding does rather better in this regard. Useful and disappointing at the same time. Also: it's a doorstop, so not for the mildly curious, probably.

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Thank you, Judith Martin! Miss Manners Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior has been such an important book in my life. I still have my original copy; purchased before I left high school as an investment in my future. I have to attribute some of my social and business successes to this

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book.

Since I am an anti-social person I limit my social intercourse to 3 levels: 1)Work - I'm in sales; tact and diplomacy are 2 important tools in every salespersons bag of sales techniques, right up there with presenting your product or service as desirable in every way. 2)Community Volunteer - While we all work together to make our community a better place, we all have our own ideas about how to make that happen. Once again, tact and diplomacy are key. 3)Special interests - My interests have lead me to participate in different activities: Book Club, 4-H Club, field events for dogs, equestrian competition, raising poultry, gardening, Archery Club, Historic Homeowners Restoration Support Group,etc. These interests attract a wildly divergent array of personality types; in order to enjoy ourselves we have to get along.

Having been a student of this book has helped me in all of the above situations. It has also made me more aware of the rudeness of others and how subconscious it often is. The good behavior I learned in this book has often provided me with a subtle, manipulative weapon to force good behavior in others.

It all boils down to one thing; being well groomed and appropriately attired, poised and unflappable in every situation gives you a definite advantage. Forget self-improvement books and get-rick-quick schemes; a cheap used copy of this book is all you need. (Reading Machiavelli is also recommended)

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