Three Stars

Best for:
People who enjoy a bit of humor with their how-to books.

In a nutshell:
Author Griffin would like you to get some fucking manners.

Worth quoting:
‘As soon as we assume our needs are more important than someone else’s, then everything descends into utter fucking chaos.’

Why I chose it:
I love etiquette books. I use a lot of profanity. Seemed like a natural fit.

Review:
This is a quick read and a mostly pleasant little book. I get the gimmick — there will be swearing! — but it seems that the author forces the work ‘fucking’ into way too many sentences. Not in an offensive way; it just doesn’t flow naturally in a lot of places.

That aside, how’s the advice? Honestly, it’s pretty basic. Not horrible. But the book only gets three stars from me because of the slight undercurrent of ‘both sides are bad’ that runs throughout. Like, this isn’t a particularly political book, but sometimes when the author gives examples of bad behavior, it feels like he’s comparing things that maybe aren’t comparable. Like, in the introduction he talks about ‘hearing both sides’ and how there’s always another side, and I can’t tell if he’s serious that this applies to all the things. Because if that’s the case? Does he recognize that some of those sides are super bad and wrong?

I thought it was maybe just a slight mismatch in tone, but then one of the quotes he uses, at the start of the chapter on manners IN THE WORKPLACE, is from Clarence fucking Thomas. You know, the guy who harassed Anita Hill and ‘found’ a public hair on a coke can that he asked her to come look at? That’s the guy we’re quoting in a book on manners? Come the fuck on, dude.

So yeah, the book isn’t awful, and were it not for the above bits I’d think it’s fine as a cute Christmas or birthday gift, but in the end I can’t recommend it.

Keep it / Pass to a Friend / Donate it / Toss it:
Toss it.