Product Description

It is hard to maintain a witty equilibrium in the realm of manners in cultured society. If one ignores social conventions, one runs the risk of being perceived as uneducated; however, following all common protocol pegs one as a nerd. With tongue in cheek, Potter reveals how to confound those who would like to practice their one-upmanship. What is upmanship? An angle of vision, a way of life, a series of gambits, ploys and devices-all of these and more, upmanship is an individual talent. Remember one final overwhelming truth: If you're not one up, you're one down.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #210449 in Books
• Published on: 1997-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 116 pages

About the Author
Stephen Potter was educated at Westminister School and Merton College, Oxford, where he took honours in English. A lecturer in English Literature at London University, he joined the BBC as a writer-producer, becoming a book and drama critic after the war.

Customer Reviews

Humor at it's best
Potter caqptures the essence of British humor. He wrote circa 1950 and was a master at capitalizing on observations for the purposes of gaining an edge in the most humorous of cicumstances. The British understatement and preoccupation for the unimportant things in life is the starting point for Potter to describe how life should be lived. From how to decorate ones office, how to walk in a museum, how to properly answer the telephone, to what to wear for golf has been reduced to a science so that the other person will ultimately feel uncomfortable and off balance. If one can possibly think British, then this book may be one of the funniest books ever written.

A fine manual for life
...This famous work has been the starting point for the education of the English cad for generations. A book full of wisdom and sage advice for the true Lifeman.

Excellent service
After purchasing this book, the seller contacted me to let me know that she found it cheaper on amazon's US site, and that she would refund my money. Who is that honest and nice? You cannot go wrong shopping here!