Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door [Hardcover]

Lynne Truss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 8, 2005

2-book set

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This isn't a book about good manners, per se. Instead, the British author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves sets out "to mourn... the apparent collapse of civility in all areas of our dealing with strangers; then to locate a tiny flame of hope in the rubble." It's a plea to show some consideration to others, especially in certain areas: (1) "Was That So Hard to Say?" ("thank you"); (2) "Why am I the One Doing This?" (e.g., punching doggedly through the automated switchboard); (3) "My Bubble, My Rules" (forcing others to listen to a private conversation on a mobile phone); (4) "The Universal Eff-Off Reflex" (outrage when antisocial behavior is pointed out); (5) "Booing the Judges" (active disrespect for the umpire, the older person, anyone in authority); and (6) "Someone Else Will Clean It Up" (e.g., rubbish tossed out the car window). Truss expounds on these themes with fine ire, mordant humor and many examples, but it must be said that the result is not so much a book as a heavily padded magazine article. Not that this will bother the many book buyers who will tuck it lovingly into the Christmas stockings of their somewhat discomfited nearest and dearest.
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Review

Behind Truss's larky manner, she's a fiery vigilante. -- Time

If Lynne Truss were Roman Catholic I'd nominate her for sainthood. -- Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes and 'Tis

Ms. Truss's witty analysis and fussbudget tactics [are] contagious. -- The New York Times

Truss is an entertaining well-read scold in a culture that could use more scolding. -- USA Today

You'll find her outrage supremely vindicating. -- Village Voice

[Truss is] a reformer with the soul of a stand-up comedian. -- Boston Sunday Globe

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Gotham; 1ST edition (November 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592401716
• ISBN-13: 978-1592401710
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (132 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #307,033 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lynne Truss is a writer and journalist who started out as a literary editor with a blue pencil and then got sidetracked. The author of three novels and numerous radio comedy dramas, she spent six years as the television critic of The Times of London, followed by four (rather peculiar) years as a sports columnist for the same newspaper. She won Columnist of the Year for her work for Women's Journal. Lynne Truss also hosted Cutting a Dash, a popular BBC Radio 4 series about punctuation. She now reviews books for the Sunday Times of London and is a familiar voice on BBC Radio 4. She lives in Brighton, England.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Talk to the Hand and Look into the Mirror, July 30, 2006

By 

Thomas M. Loarie (Danville, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door (Hardcover)

Lynn Truss has written another witty book that will stick well beyond the initial read. "Talk to the Hand" is a good whack to the head. In "Talk," Truss defines and analyzes six areas in which our dealings with strangers seem to be getting more unpleasant and inhuman.

Truss highlights the loss of punctuation signaling the vast and under-acknowledged problem of illiteracy in "Eats, Shoots, & Leaves." In "Talk," she addresses the collapse of manners and the vast and under-acknowledged problem of social immorality.

In Chapter 3, "My bubble, my rules," Truss goes after the issue of personal space and a person's right to be left alone, unmolested, undisturbed, that is until the arrival of the cell phone! Now, we are forced to listen to another's intimate conversation in restaurants, grocery stores, and even in the john...The tension between public and private space is a growing flashpoint.

Have you ever asked someone to move outside with their cell phone? If not, proceed immediately to Chapter 4, "The Universal Eff-off Reflex," and learn about the lash-back reflex of shocking proportions which your are about to receive for pointing out bad manners.

According to Truss, you can equate good manners not only with virtue in today's environment but also with positive heroism. "Talk" is a good mirror for all of us to look into.

41 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I bailed by page 86, January 21, 2006

By 

K. W. Schreiter (Conshohocken, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door (Hardcover)

Familiar with the author's 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves', I saw this small book in our library's new release section. While there are a few thoughtful passages, the book mainly contains inconsistent rants about the decline of polite society. These include a puzzling, embarassing attack on the gluten and lactose intolerant and a passage comparing online banking to 'doing you own dental work' (sic) and 'DIY funerals: the modern way'. Truss laments our lack of 'please' and 'thank you' but then disavows 'the enforced perkiness of American service workers'. She acknowledges the empowering effect of the availability of choices to modern women, then complains that too many choices exist in today's society. My outrage at the $20.00 hardcover list price for 200 pages further contributed to the low rating, especially considering each page barely contains a half-dozen sentences.

40 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Shame on you Lynn- This is a Spineless Cheap Shot, January 26, 2006

By 

cynthia (Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door (Hardcover)

Lynn has made a statement in her book that redefines rude, NO. It was more abhorrent than anything described in her book. It was about a disease called celiac disease.

" I now can't abide many, many things, and am actually always on the lookout for more things to find completely unacceptable. Whenever I hear of someone being 'gluten intolerant' or 'lactose intolerant', for example, I feel I've been missing out. I want to be gluten intolerant too. I mean, how much longer do we have to put up with that gluten crap?"

Gluten Intolerance is not an inconvenience. It is classified as a Major Auto Immune disorder. People who are unfortunate enough to suffer from this disease can become extremely ill from the slightest amount of wheat,barley, rye or oats. They can become ill from additives that contain any of those ingredients. Feeling Ill unfortunately is the least of their worries if they are contaminated with Gluten. If they continue to consume it, their digestive system is damaged to the point of no longer absorbing food. When that starts to occur they no longer obtain nutrition from food and are not only feeling ill but are risking any one of many auto immune disorders including lupus, MS, or even cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis. That is only naming a few of the horrible consequences of this disease. It is and can be a life threatening disease. THE ONLY KNOWN MEDICAL TREATMENT IS A LIFE LONG ADHERENCE TO A GLUTEN FREE DIET. This is not a choice.

I watched my beautiful vibrant mother become housebound with degenerative arthritis of the spine. scoliosis, and osteoporosis. 2 of the 3 were directly related to celiac disease and the complete ignorance of the doctors who treated her and did not educate her on the importance of maintaining a gluten free diet. Watching her struggle with her increasing illness, her paralysis in her so called golden years was devastating to both of us. She became a completely different person.

Having an well known author use cheap shots as little more than an attention getting marketing tool on a serious auto immune disorder of this magnitude is absolutely despicable.

please do not purchase this book. Thank you