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 behaviour 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 authorised to 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 Hand is a colourful call to arms - from the wittiest defender of the civilised world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29980 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-24
• Released on: 2005-10-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 214 pages

As seen on Richard & Judy, November 24, 2005
'It's a zeitgeist...people are beginning to get really fed up, so maybe we’ll have some kind of quiet revolution.'

Sunday Telegraph, October 30, 2005
'highly perceptive, passionately argued and extremely funny...a brilliantly nailed truth about contemporary life.'

The Observer, October 23, 2005
'Trademark Truss...(very) readable, (very) funny, (very) engaging.'

Customer Reviews

Funny and provocative
Being a fan of Lynne Truss's writing I was looking forward to reading what she had to say on modern manners, and I haven't been disappointed. Although I enjoyed Eats, Shoots and Leaves I have to confess that the issue of punctuation is not one that is close to my heart, whereas who hasn't wanted to punch the pillock having a noisy conversation on their mobile on the train, or the person who blithley ignores us as we hold open a door for them. However this book is not merely a rant, although the parts that are verging on it are probably the funniest, rather it is an attempt to understand why people today appear to be so ill-mannered. Truss explores whether it is merely perception, or if modern manners have changed then what has precipitated it and why do we feel so aggreived by it. This is something that anyone can relate to, and wrapped up in the same great writing that made Eats, Shoots and Leaves the number one read last Christmas this book will be enjoyed enormously by anyone who reads it. And you never know, it just might start the modern manners revolution!

Funny and readable
Truss attacks rudeness and boorishness after her campaign on how we use punctuation today. If you liked her last book, you’ll probably like this. However, if you didn’t like her last one, I’m not sure this would convert you.

Truss is amusing and her writing is very readable. She takes on computer lingo, irresponsible mobile use, eating in public (some thing my father abhorred) and many other such social grievances.

A book to dip into and at times sympathise with. I’m sure it will make a good Christmas present, but let’s not take it too seriously else we would be forever grumpy!

As Oscar Wilde wrote in Lady Windermere's Fan
'Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong.'

A doughty follow-up for the panda lovers
If you liked Eats Shoots and Leaves - and so many of us did - then you'll love this funny and pertinent appraisal of an aspect of modern life that so badly needed the Truss Treatment. There are so many things to like here. It is both an earnest and a humourous book that deals with the alienation and atomisation of the individual in an ever more crowded society that cares less and less about 'other people'. She manages to deal with the subject that more heavy-handed authors would fall foul of: she is able to negotiate the politics of the debate over rudeness without being drawn into facile class commentary or supericial assumptions about the impertinence or mannerlessness of the young. Most importantly, she achieves all this whilst raising a smile and the odd laugh, too. Great fun and thought provoking to boot.