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) "Was That So Hard to Say?..." (more)
Key Phrases: courtesy words, Eff Off, Fatty Bob, Kate Fox (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Lynne Truss is the pundit of pet peeves. She's taken on the ignorance of basic grammar with Eats, Shoots & Leaves, now she bravely rallies against the abysmal state of manners. And while she uses the Jerry Springer-esque phrase of 'talk to the hand' as her title, it's obvious she'd like to have snarkily dubbed it "Learn Some Effing Manners People!"--only she's too polite to do so. (It should be noted that while she's shocked by 6-year-olds using the f -word, she's hopeful that it's so overused that it'll soon sink into obsolescence.) To hammer across her points on politesse, Truss pulls quotations from an astonishing range of sources. Sociologist Erving Goffman is a favorite, but the Simpsons (of cartoon fame, not Jessica & Ashlee), Evelyn Waugh, and W.B. Yeats are also tapped. What her rant boils down to though is unsurprising: modern communication is at the root of rude behavior. Mobile phones and iPods have left us existing in our own little "bubble worlds," she says. "It used to be just CIA agents with earpieces…who regarded all the little people as irrelevant scum. Now it's nearly everybody." These self-produced bubbles make it easy for rudeness to rule. If someone forgets to hold a door or say "Thank you," it's because, Truss says, they're zoned out in their personal space, and will likely be offended if their lack of manners is pointed out. (The ruder the person, she says, the more easily offended.) Truss certainly earns many chuckles throughout her somewhat rambling musings, but her concern about society's decline is serious. To that end, she offers the words of Willy Loman's wife in Arthur Miller's most famous play on modern-day morality (and we all remember what happens in its last act): "Attention must be paid."--Erica Jorgensen

A Note from Lynne Truss

Dear Amazon customer and fellow stickler,

There’s an odd thing I’m finding about my new book, Talk to the Hand. The moment I start describing it to people ("Basically, it’s about the rudeness of everyday life – "), they jump straight in with stories about all the rudeness they’ve encountered in the past ten years. When I was trying to tell people about punctuation, engaging their attention was a victory. Well, not this time. "And another thing!" they say, banging the table. "What about cell phones? What about cold callers?" I make a feeble stab at outlining my six good reasons to stay home and bolt the door, also my theory of the alienation of modern life, which is that fundamentally we expect to be met half-way in our dealings with strangers and are continually shocked that this courtesy no longer pertains – but who am I kidding? I never get further than the first good reason (the decline of "please", "thank you", and "excuse me") because people are agreeing so vehemently, and I’m saying "Absolutely" and "You’re right" and "Actually, some of this is in the book." The thing is: there is nothing original in being against rudeness. Everyone is against rudeness. In fact, very, very rude people object to it strongly. But why does it matter to us so much? Are we so scared of other people? Why do we spend so much of our time saying, "Oh, that’s so RUDE"? All I can say is, you could find out from reading the book! But if you'd rather not, best wishes to all sticklers.

Your special pal,

Lynne Truss

The Lynne Truss Collection

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: 2006 Calendar

Making the Cat Laugh

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.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

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Product Details Hardcover: 216 pages Publisher: Gotham; First Edition edition (November 8, 2005) Language: English ISBN-10: 1592401716 ISBN-13: 978-1592401710 Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (130 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #513,190 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
Was That So Hard to Say? Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
courtesy words

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Eff Off, Fatty Bob, Kate Fox, Miss Truss, New Yorker, World-Famous Author, Daily Telegraph, Logged Off, Norbert Elias

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 27 books:

• Watching the English - The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour by Kate Fox on 5 pages
• The Civilizing Process: Sociogenetic and Psychogenetic Investigations by Norbert Elias on page 47, and Back Matter
• How to Be a Brit by George Mikes on page 137, and Back Matter
• The Society of Individuals by Norbert Elias on page 180, and Back Matter
• Culture of Complaint: The Fraying of America by Robert Hughes on page 165, and Back Matter

See all 27 books this book cites

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Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss

Discusses:

• courtesy words
• Eff Off
• Fatty Bob

Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss Discusses: courtesy words Eff Off Fatty Bob Loading...

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	39% buy Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation 4.0 out of 5 stars (564) $8.64
	32% buy the item featured on this page: Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door 2.9 out of 5 stars (130) $17.10
	11% buy Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! 4.5 out of 5 stars (45) $10.87
	9% buy Twenty-Odd Ducks: Why, every punctuation mark counts! 4.8 out of 5 stars (4) $11.04

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Customer Reviews

130 Reviews 5 star:  (31) 4 star:  (26) 3 star:  (17) 2 star:  (7) 1 star:  (49)           Average Customer Review 2.9 out of 5 stars (130 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 51 of 60 people found the following review helpful: 1.0 out of 5 stars So bad it's rude...., January 7, 2006 By  P. Clarke "clarkee" (Aus) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Upon reading this book I can only conclude that the publishers persuaded (forced)Truss to write another book as any rubbish she churned out would ride sweetly on the back of Eats, Shoots and Leaves. The very concept of the book has literally been done to death and it has definitely been done a great deal more entertainingly. Her choice of topics used for examples frankly beggars belief. Mobile phones on trains, call centre automated answering systems, discourteous drivers and so on, oh hillarious, I never thought of those!!! - not only does she use these mind numbingly dull themes, totally void of any originality, but she uses them over and over and over again. She has also invested an inordinate amount of text space promoting her previous success, there is barely a paragraph that doesn't remind you how jolly clever she was writing her best seller. The most irritating thing about this book is that most of the "rude" things she describes are not even vaguely rude; instead they are just annoying.... Actually one thing is more irritating and that is the fact that she will no doubt make a huge wad of cash from this crap. Basically the book is really, really weak. She is incredibly fortunate to have some influential chums who wanted this book to succeed. If a stand up comic came up with even a snippet of this they would be immediately booed off stage. Not funny, not clever. 20 of 22 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 (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)       Amazon Verified Purchase 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. 62 of 76 people found the following review helpful: 1.0 out of 5 stars Ms. Truss is the rudest one of all, January 16, 2006 By  jjthecaliforniaboy (SC C, CA United States) - See all my reviews The Utter Bloody Rudest thing of all in this book is Ms. Truss and her ignorant bigotry on gluten intolerance, i.e. celiac disease. Guess what, Ms. Truss? 3 million Americans, and a little over 1% of Britons are genetically gluten-intolerant (and probably similar percentages for the rest of the world), and this life-damaging disease KILLS an unknown number of people each year. So you don't like dealing with gluten intolerance? We don't either, but we don't have a choice. Get over yourself, and quit slinging gratuitous insults at people dealing with serious medical issues.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 3.0 out of 5 stars Not a review of the book, but a review of the reviews... I came across this book and decided to see what other readers thought before making a commitment to it. Read more Published 3 months ago by Amigo 3.0 out of 5 stars Not as enjoyable a read as I'd hoped, but I agree with her rant There is no question that Truss is spot-on in her rant about the societal decay of manners. I don't think anyone would dispute that. Read more Published 4 months ago by John S. Harris 4.0 out of 5 stars Where Have the Manners Gone? There were a few UK terms I had to guess at, but for the most part Truss has again written a highly entertaining book. Read more Published 5 months ago by Phyllis K. Twombly 4.0 out of 5 stars Positively True! I have to disagree with most of the reviewers who expeceted another book like Eats Shoots and Leaves about punctuation. Read more Published 5 months ago by Sylviastel 5.0 out of 5 stars Talk To The Hand Talk To The Hand. I just read the review because I bought it for a co-worker who was having difficulties with a client.....She states that she is enjoying it. Read more Published 12 months ago by Peg Maguire 1.0 out of 5 stars Pure Puffery This 'book' would hardly contain enough material for a good article. Clearly LT is cashing in on her previous success, Eats, Shoots and Leaves, which was excellent reading... Read more Published 12 months ago by George B. Roberts 5.0 out of 5 stars Talk To the Hand by Lynne Truss Lynne Truss is right. She has put into words what SO MANY of us think. Published 12 months ago by P. R. Wooldridge 3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but not the best either... I did enjoy this book, though I didn't find it anywhere near as good as Eats, Shoots and Leaves. What I liked about Eats, Shoots and Leaves was that it was informative as well as... Read more Published 12 months ago by A.S. Blosser 5.0 out of 5 stars Thought-Provoking Wit The Boston Globe states that "Truss is a reformer with the soul of a stand-up comedian". This sums up the wit and wisdom of "Talk to the Hand" in a nutshell. Read more Published 12 months ago by FLbeachbum 3.0 out of 5 stars Apology from Lynne Truss for Gluten remark I haven't read the book, but I thought that all the reviewers that were upset by the gluten reference should receieve an update. Ms. Read more Published 13 months ago by F Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Lynne Truss is the pundit of pet peeves. She's taken on the ignorance of basic grammar with Eats, Shoots & Leaves, now she bravely rallies against the abysmal state of manners. And while she uses the Jerry Springer-esque phrase of 'talk to the hand' as her title, it's obvious she'd like to have snarkily dubbed it "Learn Some Effing Manners People!"--only she's too polite to do so. (It should be noted that while she's shocked by 6-year-olds using the f -word, she's hopeful that it's so overused that it'll soon sink into obsolescence.) To hammer across her points on politesse, Truss pulls quotations from an astonishing range of sources. Sociologist Erving Goffman is a favorite, but the Simpsons (of cartoon fame, not Jessica & Ashlee), Evelyn Waugh, and W.B. Yeats are also tapped. What her rant boils down to though is unsurprising: modern communication is at the root of rude behavior. Mobile phones and iPods have left us existing in our own little "bubble worlds," she says. "It used to be just CIA agents with earpieces…who regarded all the little people as irrelevant scum. Now it's nearly everybody." These self-produced bubbles make it easy for rudeness to rule. If someone forgets to hold a door or say "Thank you," it's because, Truss says, they're zoned out in their personal space, and will likely be offended if their lack of manners is pointed out. (The ruder the person, she says, the more easily offended.) Truss certainly earns many chuckles throughout her somewhat rambling musings, but her concern about society's decline is serious. To that end, she offers the words of Willy Loman's wife in Arthur Miller's most famous play on modern-day morality (and we all remember what happens in its last act): "Attention must be paid."--Erica Jorgensen

A Note from Lynne Truss

Dear Amazon customer and fellow stickler,

There’s an odd thing I’m finding about my new book, Talk to the Hand. The moment I start describing it to people ("Basically, it’s about the rudeness of everyday life – "), they jump straight in with stories about all the rudeness they’ve encountered in the past ten years. When I was trying to tell people about punctuation, engaging their attention was a victory. Well, not this time. "And another thing!" they say, banging the table. "What about cell phones? What about cold callers?" I make a feeble stab at outlining my six good reasons to stay home and bolt the door, also my theory of the alienation of modern life, which is that fundamentally we expect to be met half-way in our dealings with strangers and are continually shocked that this courtesy no longer pertains – but who am I kidding? I never get further than the first good reason (the decline of "please", "thank you", and "excuse me") because people are agreeing so vehemently, and I’m saying "Absolutely" and "You’re right" and "Actually, some of this is in the book." The thing is: there is nothing original in being against rudeness. Everyone is against rudeness. In fact, very, very rude people object to it strongly. But why does it matter to us so much? Are we so scared of other people? Why do we spend so much of our time saying, "Oh, that’s so RUDE"? All I can say is, you could find out from reading the book! But if you'd rather not, best wishes to all sticklers.

Your special pal,

Lynne Truss

The Lynne Truss Collection

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: 2006 Calendar

Making the Cat Laugh

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.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Gotham; First Edition edition (November 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592401716
• ISBN-13: 978-1592401710
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (130 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #513,190 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars So bad it's rude...., January 7, 2006

By	P. Clarke "clarkee" (Aus) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Upon reading this book I can only conclude that the publishers persuaded (forced)Truss to write another book as any rubbish she churned out would ride sweetly on the back of Eats, Shoots and Leaves. The very concept of the book has literally been done to death and it has definitely been done a great deal more entertainingly.

Her choice of topics used for examples frankly beggars belief. Mobile phones on trains, call centre automated answering systems, discourteous drivers and so on, oh hillarious, I never thought of those!!! - not only does she use these mind numbingly dull themes, totally void of any originality, but she uses them over and over and over again.

She has also invested an inordinate amount of text space promoting her previous success, there is barely a paragraph that doesn't remind you how jolly clever she was writing her best seller.

The most irritating thing about this book is that most of the "rude" things she describes are not even vaguely rude; instead they are just annoying.... Actually one thing is more irritating and that is the fact that she will no doubt make a huge wad of cash from this crap. Basically the book is really, really weak. She is incredibly fortunate to have some influential chums who wanted this book to succeed.

If a stand up comic came up with even a snippet of this they would be immediately booed off stage.

Not funny, not clever.

20 of 22 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 (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

62 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ms. Truss is the rudest one of all, January 16, 2006

By	jjthecaliforniaboy (SC C, CA United States) - See all my reviews

The Utter Bloody Rudest thing of all in this book is Ms. Truss and her ignorant bigotry on gluten intolerance, i.e. celiac disease. Guess what, Ms. Truss? 3 million Americans, and a little over 1% of Britons are genetically gluten-intolerant (and probably similar percentages for the rest of the world), and this life-damaging disease KILLS an unknown number of people each year. So you don't like dealing with gluten intolerance? We don't either, but we don't have a choice. Get over yourself, and quit slinging gratuitous insults at people dealing with serious medical issues.