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Short Takes

‘Would it kill you to stop doing that?’ ‘Below stairs,’ ‘What it means to be human’

By Kate Tuttle

 |   

  January 01, 2012

“Good manners don’t come naturally,’’ writes Henry Alford. “They are - for most of us, anyway - artificial: a construct.’’ [28] Alford, whose self-deprecating wit recalls earlier generations of gentlemanly humor writers, here attempts to define, understand, and illustrate some of the materials of that construction. Kindness is part of it (“good manners means treating one another well’’ [22]), listening is another part, and so too is extending oneself generously (Alford provides a list from “The Isle of Lovely Gestures’’ 208] to help get one started).

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