Multicultural Manners: Essential Rules of Etiquette for the 21st Century

By Norine Dresser

Book Overview

Both highly informative and entertaining, Multicultural Manners gives readers the understanding they need, the perfect words to say, and the correct behavior to use in a wide range of cross-cultural situations. This incisive and award-winning guide to etiquette features completely updated etiquette guidelines with special emphasis on post-September 11 culture clashes as well as a brand-new section that demystifies unfamiliar cultures in the news. Norine Dresser identifies key cross-cultural hot spots and suggests methods that foster respect for diversity. Readers will discover the dos and don'ts of successful business and social interaction, detailed tips on avoiding embarrassment in a variety of social settings, amusing firsthand accounts of cultural gaffes, a breakdown of customs, religions, languages, and ethnicities for seventy different countries, and appropriate etiquette for innumerable settings.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471684287
• ISBN13: 9780471684282
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Educational

I teach a cultural psychology class and this book is a wonderful reference for the class. I also read excerpts to the class as we discuss the various topics in their text. If you are a traveler to other countries, this book is a must.

The most important part is just being aware that there are differences

I wish that everyone would read this book, just to be aware that different cultures have different mores, and if someone is "foreign" to you, their manners may seem very odd. It is necessary not to jump to conclusions. Of course, since so much of communication is non-verbal, it's also difficult not to. Obviously, one cannot adopt a single set of manners that would suit all people since people often have opposite customs. I worked with one group of people that hated to have money left on the counter, and another that preferred to have money left on the counter, and it was hard to remember to switch. Dresser notes that not all people from one country have the same customs, and as people live in the US for a few generations, they may forget ethnic customs. She tells a story on herself: visiting Hmong-Americans, she insists on removing her shoes, only to find out that the family has dropped that custom. Fortunately, I think most people appreciate the attempt to be polite, even if one stumbles from time to time. The book is told mainly in the form of anecdotes about cultural miscommunications, with explanations of customs of various societies. After this is a section listing many, although not all individual countries. This is followed by an extensive bibliography and an index. The index is one of the weakest points of the book. If one wants to use the book to learn customs for a specific group of people, the cross-indexing is erratic. If one is looking for Iranian customs, one also needs to look up Muslim and Middle-Easterners, but there are no cross references for this, although there are for some entries. A useful book, if one is going to be interacting with a known group of people. Otherwise, at least a reminder that customs vary.

Interesting and succint

Coming from a college student with a high number of international friends, I found this book interesting and succint. The book helped to explain many of the reasons for some of my friend's behaviors because of cultural traditions. Overall, I give this book a nod of approval.

Useful, readable, accurate, respectful

Norine Dresser's work is an invaluable guide to helping people navigate the dangerous shoals of intercultural intersections. From the varying significance of yellow flowers through the opposing attitudes toward salt to the values of folk remedies, Dresser gives excellent and respectful advice.Organized by clear and useful categories, the book offers interesting anecdotes to illustrate the cultural clashes sparked by apparently small things like the color of the flowers in a thank-you gift. Where I have the experience to know, I find her information accurate. She is invariably respectful of all cultures, and offers explanations of cultural beliefs which may on the surface seem irrational to our Western perceptions.The book is written in language and style which is available to readers as young as junior high school, but there is no condescension either to the reader or the described cultures.This is fine and valuable book, helpful to international businesspeople, school teachers, travelers, and neighbors. I recommend it to anyone who comes in contact with people from other countries, either here or abroad.

Know why the elevator stops on every floor?

For decades I thought it was because some prankster had been on just before me. All that wasted time while no one got on or off had begun to bother me. Now that I know the reason behind it, I smile. So glad to have this and other cultural differences explained. Thank you Norrine Dresser. This one's on my gift list. (Bonus (not in book): Did you know that if you ask someone who is deaf to have lunch and they give a big frown as they nod yes. that it means YES VERY MUCH! The deaf tendency to frown to emphasize has led to a lot of misunderstandings.