Book

Caldwell, Mark.

A short history of rudeness : manners, morals, and misbehavior in modern America / Mark Caldwell.

1st ed.

New York : Picador USA, 1999.

274 pages ; 22 cm

"In his thought-provoking new book, literary/social critic Mark Caldwell gives us a history of the demise of manners and charts the triumphant progress of rudeness in America. Touching on aspects of both our public and private lives, including work, family, and sex, he examines how the rules of behavior inevitably change and explains why, no matter how hard we try, we can never return to a golden era of civilized manners and mores."--Jacket.

Etiquette -- United States -- History.

United States -- Social life and customs.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-264) and index.

pt. 1. Public life. Colonel Mann and Mrs. Post: manners, morals, and class in modern America -- Manners in motion: the rise of mobility and the breakdown of public behavior -- Manners from nine to five: etiquette and power in the American workplace -- Bride, groom, and corpse: rituals and rites of passage -- Virtual rudeness: mass media, mass communications, mass mannerlessness -- pt. 2. Private life. Mr. Bok and Martha: the triumph of lifestyle -- The lady in the boutique and the man in the g-string: etiquette, race, and gender -- From Jean-Jacques to Dr. Spock: parents, children, and discipline -- Co-ed naked neo-Victorianism: manners and sex in the Nineties -- Manners for the Millennium.

99022051

0312204329

9780312204327

0312263899

9780312263898

41090627

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