A Short History of Rudeness: Manners, Morals, and Misbehavior in Modern America

by Mark Caldwell

Book Overview

The perceived breakdown of civility has in recent years become a national obsession, and our modern climate of boorishness has cultivated a host of etiquette watchdogs, like Miss Manners and Martha... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312204329
• ISBN13: 9780312204327
• Release Date: July 1999
• Publisher: Picador USA
• Length: 274 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Well-written, thought-provoking and well-researched

Really excellent book on a neglected subject. A bit too focussed on NYC and neglects the South, but overall an excellent read. Highly recommended.

this book has made me more polite, ha ha

now I'm going to be polite to everybody. woohoo

Witty and accessible

Completely free of the elitism and moralizing that you usually find in etiquette books, Caldwell bypasses the usual bemoaning of how low our standards are, and instead concentrates on how, when, and why standards of polite behavior have changed over the years.

Caldwell's Short History is Spot On

Caldwell covers the history and contemporary culture of manners (or, rather, the lack thereof). He reminds us that while courtesy is anything but common these days, anything less is uncivilized. Sharp and, even pointed when it needs to be, this book puts etiquette in its place: everywhere. For a teenage view point of contemporary manners, a good title would be Alex Packer's HOW RUDE!-which provides a historical and cultural basis, as well as a practical one, for why teens should behave themselves.