Customer Reviews

Miss Manners' Guide for the Turn-of-the-Millennium

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Incredibly entertaining. Judith Martin writes about serious topics with brilliant wit, charm, and humor. This book covers a wide variety of relevant topics, and even the ones that may not apply directly to you still are useful in conveying and emphacising the basic principles of manners. This book is helping me to gain clarity on what rudeness is, what politeness is, and on how to respond appropriately. This book is 700+ pages, so be prepared for a long-term relationship (if you intend to finish this book - which I do - at which point I will probably return to the beginning to start reading it over again). I can say this book is changing my life - and my children may at THIS time regret to say that it is changing theirs - but it is ultimately for the better (I intend to raise gentlemen and ladies)!

No- one is better at answering the questions as to what is correct in a humourous (and enteraining) way as Judith Martin is. You can buy these guides as guides for life or as just fun and entertaining reads; take the advice, or just enjoy the ride- this may be the Sally Jesse Raphael for the genteel- and I mean that in the best way possible.

I pick this book up every year or so, both for the vast wealth of knowledge and for the entertainment value. Material not covered in the question and answer format is cleary explained elsewhere in the chapter. I consider this book a necessary reference.

Judith Martin (AKA Miss Manners) has a very intelligent understanding
of what etiquette is all about. For her, it is a practical system of
applied ethics, designed to help people get along in a world that
doesn't always make it easy. The book covers a wide variety of
topics, from the ancient, i.e., table manners and how to use all that
silverware, to modern, as in, "Is it OK to send thank-you notes via
email?" (By the way the answer is NO!) This book is funny and clever
and very, very useful for all sorts of situations. The chapter on
workplace etiquette could justify a whole book on its own.

This is a truly helpful, up-to-date guide. The question and answer form helped find out answers to questions I didn't even know that I had. Miss Manners is also hilarious, (I found myself laughing outloud to some of her answers) and her insight is ingenuous. Well done!

If this were just required reading in school, we might have moderately well-mannered citizens. Miss Manners does it again, with excruciatingly correct advice on conversation, dress, deportment, correspondence, entertaining and general comportment from cradle to grave. Kudos to Ms. Martin for another worthy attempt at maintaining civilization in a world that's fast losing it.

Miss Manners answers every ettiquette question you'd ever dream of, such as The Polite Way to announce a nude wedding; how to deal politely, but not wimpily, with rude people; the uses of all sorts of obscure silverware; and what to say when your dentist sends you a long-stemmed, plump red rose (with the attached card, "Welcome to our dental practice.") It's hilarious and wise at the same time.

My only wonder is whether she writes her own questions or not. Some are too fantastic to be credible, such as the hostess who stores marbles in her medicne cabinet to catch peekers red-handed. Anyway, read it and see for yourself.

Miss Manners' witty, droll responses are top entertainment. Also, unlike other popular etiquette (and I use the term freely...) books, this one sets forth genuine courtesy, rather than taking the general rudeness of society and giving it status.

This book is refreshing in an era when "no gifts please" is seen as de rigeur, when "manners" seem to involve "encouraging" friends to adopt one's own self-improvement kicks, and courtesy i speech is a statement that one does not believe in democracy. This is the genuine article.

Miss Manners rises to the occasion in times of cultural turmoil. The unspoken assumptions which held up pretty well even 15 yrs ago are no longer valid quite as often. For example at the turn of the millenium, one cannot assume the boss is a married USA-born Caucasian male. In most workplaces and social groups not everyone has the same lifestyle or skin color or religious beliefs. In the midst of this diversity how DO you keep a one-size-fits all guide to the social skirmishes that inevitably plays fair by everyone, with grace and tact?

In this book the author handles the usual etiquette intricacies of silverware placement and Thank You notes. In addition, she bravely treads new grounds in terms of how to socially interact with cohabiting couples of any gender combination. She deals with the U.N. negotiations level complexities of inviting multiply married parents (plus current partners) to the wedding of their common offspring.

Yes, Miss Manners gives great advice with wit and insight ... and it makes great food for thought. But some of her suggestions do not seem practical. Can a 22 yr-old really get away with raising her eyebrows and not answering a question posed to her by someone several decades older? Methinks not. That would seem an etiquette breach in itself.

Little if any useful information about how to handle social situations. The question and answer format leaves a lot to be desired.