With the failure of schools, families, and other traditional social institutions to teach the basic rules of comportment, "Miss Manners" steps into the breach with this essential new series of "Basic Training" manuals. In this volume, she explores communications, answering all the vexing questions of what to do, when, and how to do it correctly. 192 pp. Author interviews. National radio publicity. National on-line publicity. National print ads. 50,000 print.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In her latest resourceful etiquette manual, Martin, aka Miss Manners, brings shrewd insights and an amazing awareness of contingencies to her coverage of traditional terrain-the dos and don'ts of personal and business letters, telephone calls, get-well messages, rejection letters, condolences, invitations, Christmas cards, adoption and birth announcements. Recognizing that it has always been rude to press unwelcome intimacy, to misrepresent oneself, to bore people, to monopolize others' time, she extrapolates these principles to office e-mail, answering machines, conference calls via speakerphone, fax machines, beepers, cyberspace, computer bulletin boards. She has her pet peeves-printed greeting cards and "cute" writing papers-as well as her taboos (never fax a thank-you note to a human resources manager after a job interview). Readers will find a wealth of good advice delivered with wit, class and civility.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
One would think that after Miss Manners Rescues Civilization , she would rest from her labors. But in her vocation, the propagation of politesse, technology allows her no respite from appellants demanding her rulings on misdemeanors in the use of caller ID, call waiting, the Internet, facsimile machines, cellular phones, beepers, and other electronic contraptions. They plead; she adjudicates; we laugh, because there's always humor in the appalling behavior of others--which Martin teases out in her patented arch responses. And whereas she previously saved all humanity, she here sets more modest goals in her promotion of gentility: this book might be sub-subtitled "Boot Camp for Boors." For those who think there is nothing wrong with faxing personal news, with stiffing a caller with call waiting, with leaving cutesy messages on answering machines, Miss Manners renders deserved judgment on their trespasses. Yet her cause is the reformation of recusants, not their immolation at the stake (which would be impolite). Her pronouncements, read as distracting comedy or heeded seriously, are immensely popular, so make way for patron demand. Gilbert Taylor
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Timely, insightful, readable, entertaining, and helpful.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Miss Manners' Basic Training: Communication (Hardcover)
When I first perused this book, and saw the scope of innovations in communications that it deals with(answering machines,fax machines, e-mail, pagers), I realized that it was really what the world needs. We are getting more and more communications devices all the time, and we each tend to think that we can do anything that technology enables us to do. We all need and want to exchange messages with others, and whereas we are eager to receive some, others we can do without. To fulfill these desires, we visit our local Radio Shack. However, techology, instead of enabling us, has a way of complicating our lives, and we also forget the perennial principles of decency which do not change with every advance in technology. Miss Manners help us to live by these principles in a world in which technology threatens to become our master.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oh, to be as wise as Dear Miss Manners!,
By
This review is from: Miss Manners' Basic Training: Communication (Hardcover)
For a lady whose yearns for the Victorian era, Miss Manners addresses the latest of cutting-edge communication technology with her trademark wisdom, common sense and rapier-like wit. If you've read as many of Judith Martin's books as I have, some of the information given here is repetitive. It is, however, information that will never let you down in a social situation or leave you feeling guilty or ashamed of the way you acted if you follow her guidelines, so it definitely bears repeating, especially for those who suffer from Genetic Social Nerdism. Miss Manners is not only absolutely right, all the time, but she will explain to you WHY she is right, and you will have to give up in the end and admit that she is the ultimate authority.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
entertaining, informative, and wise,
By erica "ejs192" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Miss Manners' Basic Training: Communication (Hardcover)
In this delightful little book, Miss Manners regales us with her opinions on the etiquette of telephones, emails, faxes, and letters. She provides the proper salutations and cloings for business and personal letters, tells us how to politely rebuff those who would use our telephones to run our lives, and reminds us that sometimes a handwritten note is necessary - and even when it isn't necessary, it's often best. The book is full of her usual witticisms and sardonic responses to reader letters, and it's a joy to read.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Listmania!
|
|
