Best for: Someone looking for a book of miscellaneous etiquette tips and lovely little watercolor illustrations. In a nutshell: Iconic fashion designer Kate Spade offers some tips for being gracious in your daily interactions Line that sticks with me: “But might doesn’t equal right, so to all ad hoc experts and lecturers please don’t pontificate on the paint. Lecture halls have seats; museums and galleries don’t.” Why I chose it: I bought this at least two years ago. I reviewed the second in this little […]
Make the World a Nicer Place
As A Gentleman Would Say is one entry in a larger series called Gentlemanners. Bryan Curtis authored or co-authored several of them. I am not aware of Mr. Curtis’ manners training, save that the dust jacket mentions he once asked a non-pregnant woman when her baby was due. Presumably, that was a key event in his origin story and his interest in helping other guys avoid putting their collective feet in the mouth of the modern American male. I bought this book in college. If I […]
If You’re Looking to Reinforce Heteronormative Values, Have I Got A Book for You!
When I searched on Amazon to provide a link, I learned that this book was updated in 2015; whereas the version I read was published nine years ago. So I’m going to *hope* that the updated version is better than this one. It’d be pretty challenging for it to be worse. This is a pretty sexist book. I think the author has this idea that teaching etiquette is the same thing as teaching women how to fit into every stereotype about what a woman should […]
Some Great Advice. Just Skip the Chapter on Dating.
[Edited because it was still too vitriolic for my taste.] Great title, right? GREAT title. I love etiquette books, as evidenced by my many reviews of such books. When I see a book on etiquette, or manners, I tend to snap it up. This one, however, has taught me about more than just manners; it has reminded me of the fact that the people who write these books we devour and then write about are real people. In fact, I think that much of what […]