Miss Manners Rescues Civilization: From Sexual Harassment, Frivolous Lawsuits, Dissing and Other Lapses in Civility

""There has been a decided drop in the quality of disgusting things being done in public,"" Martin observes in this compendium of contemporary behavioral problems. With charm and wit, she minutely examines the rents in the social fabric since the 1960s, when many traditional guidelines for civility were abandoned with little to replace them but self-interest or confusion. She maintains that the basis for a workable society is still consideration for others as well as for self, and that etiquette is not an antiquated set of Victorian rules but an urgent necessity in what can otherwise be a social jungle. In the form of answers to real and imagined letters from readers of her syndicated ""Miss Manners"" newspaper column, Martin holds forth with more than superficial wisdom on problems encountered in the workplace, between the sexes, between parents and children and in a variety of legal, political, public and private situations. Little is too trivial for her to consider (if you are a vegetarian, how, if at all, should you thank your employer, who gives you a turkey for Thanksgiving every year?), but she does not ignore such larger issues as bigotry and date rape. More than a book on etiquette, this is both entertaining and serious social commentary. (June)