- Paperback
- Publisher: Gotham Books (Nov 8 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1592401732
- ISBN-13: 978-1592401734
- Shipping Weight: 503 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"'So lively, so witty, so exhilaratingly splenetic' Mail on Sunday 'Highly perceptive, passionately argued and extremely funny... a brilliantly nailed truth about contemporary life' Sunday Telegraph 'Trademark Truss... (very) readable, (very) funny, (very) engaging' Observer 'Bloody funny and an effin good read' Sunday Independent, Dublin"
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Sticklers unite! The Queen of Zero Tolerance takes on the sorry state of modern manners, in the spirit of her three million copy worldwide bestseller, "Eats, Shoots & Leaves". 'Talk to the hand 'cause the face ain't listening', the saying goes. When did the world get to be so rude? When did society become so inconsiderate? It's a topic that has been simmering for years, and Lynne Truss says that it has now reached boiling point. Taking on the boorish behavior that has become a point of pride for some, "Talk to the Hand" is a rallying cry for courtesy. Like "Eats, Shoots & Leaves", "Talk to the Hand" is a spirited conversation, not a stuffy guidebook. It is not about forks, for a start. Why hasn't your nephew ever thanked you for that perfect Christmas present? What makes your builder think he can treat you like dirt in your own home? When you phone a utility with a complaint (and have negotiated the switchboard), why can't you ever speak to a person who is autapologizeo apologise? What accounts for the appalling treatment you receive in shops? Most important, what will it take to roll back a culture that applauds rudeness and finds it so amusing? For anyone who's fed up with the brutality inflicted by modern manners (and is naturally too scared to confront the actual yobs), "Talk to the colorfula colourful call to arms - from the wittiest defencivilizede civilised world.
--This text refers to an alternate
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If you want a short-cut to an alien culture these days, there is no quicker route than to look at a French phrase book. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
If you want a short-cut to an alien culture these days, there is no quicker route than to look at a French phrase book. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
We are not alone!,
By David B. Bosomworth (LUMBY, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Talk To The Hand (Mass Market Paperback)
Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss is an easy and delightful read, similar to her previous book, Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. The only problem I had was that many of the mannerisms were very "English" and even the way she speaks is very "English", not that this is all that bad. The English are known for a kind of humour that mocks their "proper behavious" in a rather raunchy way. Truss reverses this process. She gives hilarious examples of rude behavior that is very much in line with our new technological era, but is very serious about her disappointment in the human race for being unaware that there are other people in the room. I fully agreed with almost all of her issues, although I am hardly a man who is fixated on manners. I do, however, see that if we do not do something about improving our manners, we will simply lose sight of anyone else in the room but us, and that would indeed be a tragedy. This book very skillfully points out where we are heading and how we can stop the stupidity by just stopping the behavior. We need not be rude by nature; it is a matter of being aware of the simple fact: "We are not alone". And this is not just to refer to having a God hanging about.My advice to all is not just to enjoy the humour but to look at your behavior. The next time that cell phone rings in the middle of a conversation with another, do you a) answer it, b) answer it with an apology, c) dont't answer it and let it ring d) don't answer and let it ring with an apology, e) shut it off or f) shut the damn thing off with an apology? What is even more important is to examine why you have it in your pocket in the first place. What does that say about you and your relationship with OTHERS around you? Are you able to cope with "delayed gratification"?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.0 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews) 8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Truss Comes Back Fighting the Extinction of Etiquette,
By Ed Uyeshima - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Talk To The Hand (Mass Market Paperback)
Embittered albeit bemused finger-wagging appears to be author Lynne Truss' specialty, and I have to say I find her newest little tome on the global lack of respect and good manners even more cutting than her bad grammar colonic, Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. Both books reflect her British sense of civility with lacerating wit and shrewd observation, but this one feels more like a rant than a how-to manual on how to improve upon such social breeches. However, she does a clear-eyed job in analyzing the origins of such barbaric behavior.In her previous book, Truss saw the decline of punctuation as indicative of the increasing spread of illiteracy. Here she suggests that the collapse of manners is the tip of what she calls a "social immorality iceberg", i.e., a decreasing competency in building community and using manners as a sign of mutual respect. In fact, there will definitely many who view her definition of what used to be considered basic good manners as elitist. For example, she may be a member of a shrinking populace who bristle when there is the absence of a simple "Thank you," and "You're welcome" when a door is held open. I happen to be in her camp, so I am quite amenable to her observations. Inevitably, there will be the impolite thinkers who demand quantitative data to back up her arguments. However, because so little data is available on long-term trends, Truss doesn't bother with statistics, and instead devotes six short chapters to examples of how behavior that was unthinkable a generation ago has become normal. The weakness of the book is that she offers no actionable solutions. Her examples are entertaining but beyond hoping that someone will recognize the problem, she doesn't anticipate that things will improve. In fact, it seems like a missed opportunity to lay out a plan for how people really ought to behave in social situations with tangible steps for her readers (or more appropriately, the rude friends of her readers) to follow. Her reason for this omission is that she doesn't want to be held up to such constant scrutiny which seems like an unnecessary concession. Yet, Truss's concern for the morality of our everyday interactions is thorough and affecting, and to her credit, she never tries to simplify the subject given its political and moral dimensions. She celebrates intolerance and does attempt to set out a manifesto toward the end of the book. Just like the basis of the rising Labor movement in her homeland, Truss believes that manners are connected to the common good, and I have to agree that acts of kindness ennoble the world in which we live. 4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Six good things to complain about,
By C. Marken - Published on Amazon.com
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This review is from: Talk To The Hand (Mass Market Paperback)
After reading the author's first book, "Eats, Shoots & Leaves," I had very high hopes for another smash hit. I was a bit disappointed since this book doesn't address how to improve our interaction with others, but rather, spends a great deal of time pointing out all that's wrong with society, and the main reasons the author would rather stay home and bolt the door. Although I agree with her criticisms, the wonderful wit and humor present in the first book is not found in this one. Looking for a great read with helpful information to improve yourselt, pick up the auther's first book, "Eats, Shoots & Leaves."
9 of 13 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Is Exploitation a Form of Rudeness?,
By Bozo MacGinty "Bozo MacGinty" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Talk To The Hand (Mass Market Paperback)
The dust jacket tells it all. Ms. Truss is a radio host and a newspaper columnist and this little book appears to be a quickly collected concoction of bits from her radio and journalistic lives designed to capitalize on Eats, Shoots and Leaves. The reader is predisposed to agree with the premise, but the contents are slap-dash and random. One can almost hear the radio host stream-of consciousness wanderings when reading this.Was Ms. Truss rude to pass this off on her public? |
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