Customer Reviews

One-Upmanship

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Potter caqptures the essence of British humor. He wrote circa 1950 and was a master at capitalizing on observations for the purposes of gaining an edge in the most humorous of cicumstances. The British understatement and preoccupation for the unimportant things in life is the starting point for Potter to describe how life should be lived. From how to decorate ones office, how to walk in a museum, how to properly answer the telephone, to what to wear for golf has been reduced to a science so that the other person will ultimately feel uncomfortable and off balance. If one can possibly think British, then this book may be one of the funniest books ever written.

If your knowledge of British humour begins and ends with Monty Python, or if you think Austin Powers really is British, then this book will be an eye-opener for you. Where the Pythons provide an in-your-face, broad, loud, slapstick experience, Stephen Potter is exquisitely dry and understated. He sets about on the thankless and nearly impossible task of teaching us perfectly ordinary people how to lord it over our peers. Or betters, for that matter. Doctors, for instance, assume a state of instant authority and dominance by the simple act of having us remove our clothes first thing. How to counter this age-old tactic? Arrange for a female acquaintance to call you as soon as you're starkers, and engage in a knee-slapping, ribald conversation. Any doctor will have a hard time meeting your eyes after that call! A salesman should never rush a pen into his client's hand, hoping he'll skip the fine print. Instead, read out loud the most obfuscatory phrases ("whereas the party hereinafter called the copyholders shall within the discretion of both signatories ..."), and have a shared laugh as you both try to figure out what they can possibly mean. It's good form to then pat your pockets, looking in vain for a pen. Done properly, the client will offer his own pen, which of course you'll take home with you.

If you're not used to reading the Queen's English, you'd better have a dictionary (preferably the O.E.D.) close at hand. Despite the passing of half a century, some of these ploys and gambits will be fresh and viable today. Mind you, I should avoid any driving advice given by Plaste, tempting though it may be. Though if you're afraid of heights, then the Art of Not Rockclimbing will suit you to a "t". This is all brilliant stuff, though the connoisseur will prefer the all-in-one volume, "The Complete Upmanship: Including Gamesmanship, Lifemanship, One-Upmanship, Supermanship." Highly, highly recommended.

Potter's books are the funniest I have ever read. I go back to each of them regularly.

The central book in this series Lifemanship:Some Notes on Lifemanship with a Summary of Recent Research in Gamesmanship is a classic for anyone nerous about social encounters. You know the type, the ones who are always suspecting that everyone else is scrutinizing their every word and gesture. Well, according to these books, they are. There is a defense though (and a way to make those others who share the anxiety still more worried). This is one of those that is a good laugh, but not ENTIRELY facetious.

As a high school youth this book was my introduction to subtlety. And as a kid in Pittsburgh I had much to learn on this subject. One would hope that in today crass atmosphere such ploys are still advantageous but I doubt it. In fact I'll wager that there is not one person in a thousand who can identify this book as the source of the popularity of the word "ploy" although the word is widely used. Read it, it's fun.