Excuse Me, But I Was Next...:How to Handle the Top 100 Manners Dilemmas Book

Have you ever been annoyed by cell phone yakkers, line cutters, or movie chatters? Been confused about who pays at a restaurant? Received a gift you hated? Fumed over how to respond to a nosy question? America's etiquette expert Peggy Post comes to the rescue in this concise handbook devoted to the top 100 etiquette issues everyone wonders about. You'll learn how to politely say "no" to difficult requests, how to introduce someone if you've forgotten his or her name, how to perform damage control for e-mail bloopers, and countless other strategies for handling life's awkward moments. Additional highlights include:

Ten Conversational Blunders . . . Five Introduction Goofs . . . Top Dinner-Table Manners Goofs . . . Tipping Guidelines . . . A Family Gathering Survival Guide . . . How to Spot a Dud on the First Date . . . Playdate Etiquette . . . How to Be a Welcome Houseguest . . . How to Simplify Gift Giving . . . Dispelling Wedding Myths . . . and much more.

Library Journal

Post, great-granddaughter-in-law of Emily Post and author of at least a dozen books on etiquette, is recognized as America's reigning etiquette doyenne. In this easy-to-read guide, she offers "scripts" and rules of engagement for dealing with what she considers the top 100 rude, thoughtless, and obnoxious situations one might encounter at work, at home, and in social situations. Most of Post's advice is born of good, plain common sense, but every reader will discover a means of getting out of at least one jam where he or she didn't know what to do. Here are solutions for the art of small talk, retorts to the top ten nosy questions, ways of finessing "name amnesia," and adoption etiquette, in concise Q&A format. The best news of all: it's ok to wear white 365 days a year. Although much of this ground (and more) is covered online in Post's "Etiquette for Today" column (www.goodhousekeeping.com/etiquette/peggy/) and in Good Housekeeping magazine, the focus on universal real-life situations makes this book a classic for most etiquette collections.-Deborah Ebster, Univ. of Central Florida Libs., Orlando Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.